#yet another post that i didn't mean to open with a joke and then make deep but i did LOL

[genericpuff]

A theory as crazy as it is profound in a silly r/im14andthisisdeep kinda way

So there's this conspiracy theory of sorts that's been whispered within the ULO discord and subreddit the last little bit. I don't think anyone's made an outright statement on it yet but it's definitely something people have been casually talking about in the comment sections and chatrooms, mostly as a joke, but also as a thought experiment.

And that thought experiment is concerning the notion that Lore Olympus could very well have become a poorly-made AI comic.

Not necessarily the art, as we've already dissected the art process plenty of times before and it points to Rachel simply being bad at team management and using her mismanaged team as a way to circumvent any real effort on her own part.

But the writing. There's just something about Lore Olympus' writing that's become incredibly stiff, boring, and alien.

Disclaimer before I continue: this is a tinfoil hat theory, and a lot of the points I'm about to discuss can be easily proven with far more reasonable explanations, so take it with mountains of salt. That said, I do think it's something worth talking about as we're currently in an era of mass AI-takeover in the art and writing scene, and let's face it, Lore Olympus nowadays really does feel like it's either being written by an alien, or an amalgamation of possessed animatronic endoskeletons wearing a human skinsuit. So viewer beware, this post is full of speculation and tinfoil hat wearing, read at your own discretion and don't take everything I'm about to say 100% seriously.

Let's get started.

THE TONE OF VOICE

This is where that whole "animatronic wearing a skinsuit" vibe really shines, so I figured it would be where I'd start. Lore Olympus... does not feel human. It's dialogue often feels stilted and scripted, none of the characters have any sense of personal voice, and it often feels like the dialogue is coming straight out of a sterilized Wikipedia article.

There are also often times when characters will say one thing only to be responded to with an entirely other thing. It comes across as randomly generated, like the dialogue is being created based off a script that is only given prompts as to where it needs to end up - so everything between Point A and Point B ends up feeling like non-sequitur filler at best and outright nonsense at worst.

In fact, there can be better tone of voice and dialogue found in the legitimate AI conversations of Lore Olympus themed ChatGPT bots.

And this is a bot that's self-aware it's a bot, so it definitely has that going for it.

The more likely explanation: Rachel's bad at writing. She's planning these episodes maybe 2 weeks ahead at a time at best so she's just throwing dialogue in to keep readers spending money and meet her panel quotas. Her characters have no voice because they aren't, in and of themselves, characters. She hasn't given them any depth beyond their appearance and she clearly has next to no understanding of writing outside her own headspace (and her actual headspace as we've seen is... yikes) so it's not surprising that her dialogue-writing is on par with Shenmue 3. And Shenmue 3 is a game with real human-written dialogue that exists so it's not a stretch that something like LO's bad writing could be entirely the fault of a human either LOL

THE NARRATIVE INCONSISTENCIES

It seems since the start of S2.2 (post-mid-season hiatus which starts us off with the 10 year time skip) narrative inconsistencies and plotholes have become far more egregious, sometimes contradicting itself within the same episode. Almost like scenes are just happening from single idea prompts and no actual structure underneath the surface.

The more likely explanation: Just like the first point about stilted dialogue, this could easily be chalked up to Rachel just not committing to goal-oriented writing. She doesn't have any sort of end point planned for any of these plotlines, she just drags them out until she can finally think of a way to resolve them, if she even resolves them (many often aren't resolved, or are simply left as a "yep, that's it, moving on" type ending, ex. Eros and Psyche).

STRANGE SYNTAX AND CONSTANT TYPOS

This goes hand in hand with the first point about stilted dialogue, but part of what makes everything feel so stiff and robotic is how often the sentences are structured in very... odd ways. From the lack of contractions that make sentences feel less natural-

-to the strange choice of words that no human being in a modern setting would ever use (and LO is, again, set in a modern setting and is trying to portray the gods as being 'just like us')-

-to the numerous typos and spelling errors.

(there are so many I could post here but the "his deam" one always makes me laugh lmao)

It really feels like a lot of these sentences were pulled straight out of Twitter or a Wikipedia article. As a result, it never feels like these characters are talking to each other, but at each other.

As for the typos, at this point, Rachel really has no excuse for how frequent they are. Fortunately, she has hired a copy editor recently which seems to have mitigated these errors, but if there were a bot involved, it wouldn't be farfetched to think that the bot would also make spelling mistakes and stilted dialogue if it's been trained off Rachel's past material which is, y'know... full of spelling mistakes and stilted dialogue.

The more likely explanation: It's a well known fact that Rachel has dyslexia, so I'm not going to fault her for struggling with spelling things right. None of this is to shame people who struggle with dyslexia and reading disorders. But the fact of the matter is, Rachel is a multi-million dollar creator in the year 2023 where spellcheck exists. It's wild that she's only now taken on a copy editor. Literally any of her assistants that she's had for the last few years could have done that for her. It's great that she's hired a copy editor but it feels like too little too late. That isn't going to fix the stilted dialogue, either, which just comes down to, yet again, Rachel being a bad writer. And possibly a series of animatronic endoskeletons hiding in a human skinsuit.

REACTING TO CRITICISM

The irony of this post is that it asks not to take every speculation I write here seriously because it's just that, speculation, and we shouldn't get carried away with conspiracy theories... which is exactly the sentiment we had back when we initially suspected Rachel of spying in the criticism groups, which turned out to be true. It's basically public knowledge at this point that Rachel lurks in the criticism groups, thanks to both testimonials from others who have been in groups who got hijacked by Rachel (see: Broseidon's Palace of Fishposting) and the 'clapbacks' in LO that are clearly meant for the audience.

But it's wild to think that Rachel would really spend time in criticism groups when she's said it herself that she "doesn't like criticism". And considering she already spends an absurd amount of time on social media, it would be really ridiculous if she was still finding time to also lurk in the critic groups and concoct ways to 'get back' at them.

Unless, of course, there was a bot parsing criticism hashtags like #antiloreolympus and #loreolympuscritical. I can personally attest to the fact that Rachel must be subscribed to hashtags in some capacity because I've had Lore Olympus fanart (way back in the day when it was actual fanart and not foe-art) get retweeted by Rachel herself literally seconds after posting. So either Rachel is just constantly refreshing the search feed all day, or she's directly fed tweets and posts with the hashtags she's subscribed to.

The more likely explanation: Rachel literally just spends an absurd amount of time on social media and considering she clearly only involves herself in the beginning and end process of drawing her comic - and only has a buffer 1-2 weeks ahead of time - she's definitely got plenty of time on her hands to lurk and hurt her own feelings in the criticism spaces. She could also just have her mods sending things to her as well. Either way it's icky behavior and I wish she'd do herself and her mental health a favor and just stay out of the fandom spaces, they aren't for her, they're for the fans.

HOW IS IT GETTING WORSE?

Consider everything I've laid out here. Remember that Lore Olympus is a comic that's been in development since 2017, and in the Originals catalogue since 2018. Its Originals version turned 5 years old in March and technically LO is well into the 6-7 year age range in total. It's absolutely absurd that after all these years, not only has the story fallen apart, but the art has lost the quality it once had. Comics are a medium that encourage improvement, you're drawing lots and typically the same characters and settings over and over again, it's natural progression to get better at doing it over time. And yet, Rachel seems to be getting worse at it, and her involvement in the comic seems to be shrinking with each year.

Of course, improvement is optional. Not every comic gets better over time. Which brings me to my final piece on this matter.

The most likely explanation: Rachel is burnt out and not interested in LO anymore. This is the longest project she's ever done, and while it's not the first webcomic she's done on a schedule, it is the first one that's made it further than a handful of chapters (The Doctor Pepper Show ended after about 1-2 years, not even making it to 10 chapters). She even stated herself in the beginning that LO was a project she'd "never finish".

While it is a testament to how far LO has come from its humble beginnings, I think it also serves as a precautionary tale - success can come at the expense of your happiness and integrity if you've trapped yourself in a project that no longer fulfills you.

Rachel's never finished a long-term project, and at this rate, it's hard to say when she will. As well known as it is that she has dyslexia, it's also well known that she has ADHD, and speaking as an ADHD creator myself, I can fully empathize with and understand that webcomics are hard to create, and get more exhausting to see through with each passing chapter. There's a reason not everyone does long-term comics like this, they're incredibly hard to manage and require a lot of commitment. Even I've found my commitment to current projects wavering as the honeymoon phase has worn off and I've sunk into the reality that is monotonous work, panel after panel, episode after episode, deadline after deadline.

If Rachel were a more experienced creator and more self-aware of her own limitations and work methodology back in 2018, Lore Olympus likely would have never been dragged out this long. She may have gotten the chance to finish it while she was still happy with it, or at least leave it behind when she was ready to move on. While I'm sure the allure of signing on with Originals felt worth it at the time - especially when we didn't know yet just how exploitative Webtoons was - it clearly hasn't benefitted her in the long run because it's tethered her to a project that she never felt wholly dedicated to in the first place. A project that's now less about telling a story and connecting with an audience and more about generating clicks and revenue.

She can claim all she wants in her interviews that Persephone and Hades were her "muses" as a child, but the writing is on the wall - LO was a passing fancy that stuck around too long after its heartbeat gave out.

What it's become now is an endoskeleton on life support, made up of statistics and analytics, struggling to stay alive from inside of a colorful but rotting skinsuit that only barely resembles a living thing.

[mclqren]

MAKE A WISH ★ CL16

PAIRING ✦ charles leclerc x fem!childhood friend!reader

SUMMARY ✦ you and charles have been friends since you were little kids, and each year without fail charles posts you on your birthday, unknowingly marking the milestones of your relationship [ SMAU ]

WARNINGS ✦ none, i think!

REQUESTED ✦ here!

NOTES ✦ reader grew up in monaco. i tried to use old-ish pictures to mark the time period he was posting her from! this one's a bit on the shorter side because i only included charles' perspective of posting her. the fc i've used is cindy kimberly, but feel free to picture whoever you want! my requests are open so feel free to leave a request :)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

2017

liked by yourusername, user1, and 14,192 others

tagged yourusername

charles_leclerc happy birthday to my very best friend! can't believe we've been friends for more than ten years, time flies by when you're having fun! love you y/n, have the best day ❤️

view all comments

yourusername awww charlieee!!

yourusername this is the sweetest omg

yourusername thank god you didn't use that crusty photo of me you threatened to use...

user1 okay now we haveee to see it

yourusername NOOO NEVERRR

yourusername thank you sm love you!!💘

charles_leclerc ❤️❤️

user2 scrolled so far down i managed to find these old gems of y/n 🤣

user3 stop they're acc so cute i can't

user4 the way this is the point where they relationship was just so sweet and innocent is so heartwarming to me

user5 also before charles got slowly more and more whipped with each post he made

2018

liked by yourusername, user6, and 67,256 others

tagged yourusername

charles_leclerc Y/N!! another year of us being friends, and another year where i have to put up with your awful dad jokes & incapability of cooking 🤣🤣 still, wouldn't have it any other way! love you y/n ❤️

view all comments

yourusername stoppp that cat was sooo cute

charles_leclerc ur cuter 😘

user6 THE BLATANT FLIRTING HELLOOOO??

yourusername birthday wishes much appreciated charles!! thank youuu 💘💘

charles_leclerc why so formal??

yourusername idk just felt like it ❤️

yourusername i literally can cook idk what you mean

charles_leclerc you almost burnt down my apartment??

yourusername intentional. 😊

user7 is that his girlfriend???

user8 nooo his childhood best friend from monaco!!

user9 well not yet anyways 🤷‍♀️

yourusername NOT THE BANGSSS IT WAS A DARK TIME OKAY

user10 Y/N REVISITING THIS IS SO FUNNY

yourusername NO STOPP WHAT WAS I THINKING.

2019

liked by yourusername, sebastianvettel, and 102,441 others

tagged yourusername

charles_leclerc hopefully the getaway to italy was enough of a birthday present for you 😘 happy birthday y/n! no one else i'd rather eat crappy pizza with ❤️

view all comments

user11 TELL ME HOW THEY'RE NOT DATINGG

user12 omg she is absolutely STUNNING!!

yourusername CHARLIEEE IT WAS MORE THAN ENOUGH

user13 she seems like such a sweetheart

yourusername the flowers were so beautiful oh my

charles_leclerc you have no clue how long it took me to find them 🤣🤣❤️

user14 GET TOGETHER ALREADYY

sebastianvettel 👀👀

user15 SEB IS HERE!!

user16 what on earth can this man know

2020

liked by yourusername, pierregasly, and 274,928 others

tagged yourusername

charles_leclerc happy birthday to the craziest cat lady i know!! 🐈‍⬛ thanks for supporting me through my ups and downs, and staying with me during this crazy journey! the best person to ever have by my side ❤️

view all comments

user17 oh so he's in love.

user18 RIGHTTT

yourusername you can NEVERRR take me away from cats!!

charles_leclerc as a dog person this hurts

yourusername idc deal with it eclair!!

user19 crazy cat lady x dog guy >>>>

yourusername love you charlie 💘💘

user20 CHARLIE HAS ME WEAKKK

user21 if this man doesn't want her I DOOO PLEASE GIVE ME A CHANCE Y/N

user22 looking back on this in 2024 it's actually sooo obvious idk how (some) of us didn't see it

2021

liked by yourusername, carlossainz55, and 451,002 others

tagged yourusername

charles_leclerc forever thankful that my mama made me play with my (annoying) new neighbour when i was 7 years old 🤣❤️ happy birthday y/n, hope it's the best one yet!

view all comments

user23 HOW IS SHE SO PRETTYYY

user24 more y/n content asap pleaseeee

yourusername exploring spain w you was sooo much fun & the tour guide was great asw! @/carlossainz55 😉😉

carlossainz55 it was my pleasure! ❤️❤️

user25 PLS SAY THEY ARENT DATINGGG I WANT CHARLES & Y/N

yourusername omg no he's in a long term relationship & i'm not at all interested 😭😭

user26 charles x y/n is still possible then!!

yourusername not the picture of me and the sushi 🤣 my one true love!

charles_leclerc i think you prefer the sushi to me

yourusername you'd be right!!

user27 wait guys i'm a new fan who is this??

user28 y/n l/n!! she's charles' childhood best friend from monaco (and we're all 99% sure they're in love)

2022

liked by yourusername, pierregasly, and 729,090 others

tagged yourusername

charles_leclerc the only person who continually manages to pull off white regardless of the weather ☀️ happiest of birthdays to you y/n! love you more each year ❤️

view all comments

user29 JUST ADMIT IT UR IN LOVEEEE

user30 L-O-V-E

user31 hey alexa play you are in love by taylor swift (listen until it gets in ur head pls!)

user32 literally: "pauses, then says you're my best friend and you knew what it was, he is in love"

yourusername I LOVE YOU 💘

charles_leclerc ❤️❤️

user33 they're lovers, your honor.

yourusername don't get in the way of me and one direction

pierregasly are they not over??

yourusername SHUT UP GASLY IM IN DENIALLL

user34 she's truly one of us!!

2023

liked by yourusername, francisca.cgomes, and 1,033,994 others

tagged yourusername

charles_leclerc my very best friend and now, i can officially say, the woman i am very much in love with. happy birthday y/n - thanks for putting up with me all these years ❤️❤️

view all comments

user35 CHARLES X Y/N CONFIRMEDDD

user36 THE CAPTION?? THEY ADMITTED THEIR LOVE FOR EACH OTHER IM CRYING

user37 AND THE LAST PICTURE?? I LOVE THEMMMM

yourusername my love forever 💘💘

charles_leclerc ❤️❤️

user38 parents pls adopt me i beg

yourusername THE FIRST PIC HELP i did NOT think you'd post that

charles_leclerc why wouldnt i 🤷‍♂️

francisca.cgomes what are you doing with MY WIFE 😖

yourusername idk PLEASE come pick me up baby he's annoying me sm rn ❤️❤️

francisca.cgomes dw on my way rn 🙏

pierregasly oh???

charles_leclerc it would seem we've been replaced, pierre!

2024

liked by yourusername, carlossainz55, and 1,801,332 others

tagged yourusername

charles_leclerc MY girlfriend!! happy birthday y/n l/n; 14 year old me would be very happy to call the girl he'd been in love with since a kid his girlfriend ❤️

view all comments

yourusername 14 year old me would be screaming crying throwing up right about now, if it's any consolation

charles_leclerc 🤣🤣❤️

user39 THE WAY THEY LOVED EACH OTHER AS KIDS ASW I CANT

user40 the definition of soulmates i can't

user41 PARENTSSS

user42 i need to find me someone who loves me the way charles loves y/n

yourusername in all realness though kika is my gf sooo idk what the caption is about buddy!

francisca.cgomes righttt?? 😘😘

charles_leclerc so should i change the caption orrr?

yourusername NOO i have to flex my relationship somehow 🤷‍♀️

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[motherlvr]

can you write something grumpy!42miles x sunshine!reader? where he’s always kinda mean but cares about her but they end up together

this prompt is so cute tysm for the req!!

Word count: About 1,600

Pairing: Grumpy Earth-42! Miles Morales x Sunshine! f! reader

Summary: The line between just classmates and something more is thin. Miles and You seemed to be walking that line.

Warnings: (begrudgingly) friends to lovers, he's a bit mean, fluff, minimal cursing, classmates to lovers, pure fluff, cannot contain the fluff, reader is a little slow, this is short and cute, spanish grammar is not my strong suit

A/N: if i haven't gotten to your request yet, its still a wip but will be posted soon!

_________

You were boisterously laughing. Obnoxiously, even. The guy’s joke wasn’t even that funny.

Miles called your name out with an aggravated tone,

"Would it kill you to shut up for a second?"

You promptly responded, "Would it kill you to lighten up for once?"

He regrets not skipping this class.

That was partially a lie. In reality, he didn’t care for this class at all. He only came to see you. You were one of the few people who put up with him.

Miles and you always sat together during class. "Unassigned assigned seats", you'd call it. But that’s all you were. Seat partners. That was the way it was, and the way it would stay. And he was fine with that, at least he tried to convince himself.

The next day, the seat next to Miles was empty. It hasn’t been empty since the first day you met.

If you asked Miles how you both met, he’d say you forced your way into his life. However, you’d say that you saw through his “cold guy” facade and he opened up his heart to you. He was a good guy if you had the patience. That was only one of the many things he admired about you. Your optimism.

He saw you across the room. You were sitting with someone else. A guy. What was his name again? Miles couldn't recall. That was how irrelevant he was to Miles.

"Is this seat taken?" Miles looked up to the voice that had spoken, hoping it was somehow you. However, as he glanced up, an unfamiliar face was staring at him.

"Nah." He muttered, not sparing her another look.

She introduced herself and told Miles her name, but he wasn't listening. He was listening to your laugh. How could he not? Your laugh was practically drowning out every other voice in the room. At least, that’s how he perceived it.

You were giggling at whatever the guy next to you said. But this time, he wished it was him making you laugh. That guy didn't deserve to hear you laugh, or see you smile.

He couldn't stand your laugh unless he was the cause of it. Miles didn’t pay attention to the lesson that day. He was occupied staring daggers into your back. Yet you never noticed.

You sat next to Miles the day after, as usual. It was an unspoken agreement, and you had broken it the day prior.

Immediately as you sat down, Miles started interrogating you.

"You left me with some random girl to go flirt with that moron? He's a dick." He scoffed at you, nodding his head towards the guy that you left him for yesterday.

Right, like you're not. You thought. "He's really not, he's a good guy!" You defended him and continued, "Plus, your partner was super smart. She was probably more help than I could’ve been.”

"Ella no es tú. What else can I say, ma?" Miles casually said.

You tried to hide your grin but failed as a smile spread across your face. The corner of his lip curled in a small smirk. If you blinked, you would have missed it.

"I’m sorry for 'leaving you', Miles. But don’t worry, I prefer you over him anyway." You smiled brightly at him. And for a second, his stoic heart gleamed.

"I wasn't worried." He grumbled.

"You sure? I mean, whatever you say.” You grinned amusedly at him.

The rest of the class period followed as usual. But this time, before the bell rang, Miles bottled up his dignity to ask you, "Ay ma, wanna hang out after school?"

You raised a skeptical brow at his unusual behavior, "What, you starting to like me now? I thought you couldn't tolerate me." You probed.

Oblivious to you, he does more than just tolerate you. He was growing fond of your presence. He was starting to miss the sound of your giggle echoing within the room when he wasn’t around you.

But he couldn't find the courage to tell you just yet. Instead, he murmured, "I can tolerate you. Out of most of these people in here, anyway."

"I'm kidding. Yeah, I'm down, Miles." You teased him and agreed.

What you didn't know is that your initial question wasn't very far from the truth.

The school day couldn’t have passed any slower. If you were being honest, you were eagerly anticipating spending more time with Miles out of school.

The final bell of the day rang, and Miles held up to his side of the agreement. He met up with you after school.

Walking side-by-side, you asked, "What've you got planned for us today, Miles? You gonna wine and dine me?" you winked at him.

"Maybe another day, mami." He cracked a slight grin as he responded, fond of your antics.

"I'll hold you to that. I've got a better idea, anyway." You said as you heard a familiar song ringing through the atmosphere.

You yanked Miles by his arm and pulled him, "Look, an ice cream truck! I haven't seen one of those in forever. Let's go!"

A rare smile adorned Miles' face. Not that you saw it. You were too busy chasing after the ice cream truck and dragging him along.

You approached the ice cream truck. The ice cream man greeted you, "Hey guys! What can I get for you today?"

Without missing a beat, you said "Hello! Can I get the Spongebob popsicle please?" with a bright smile.

Miles ordered his right after you. "Coming right up!" The ice cream man said. He shortly returned with both your orders in hand.

As you tried to give the owner cash, Miles lowered your hand gently and said, "Let me pay for you." It was more of a demand as he handed cash to the man.

You couldn't contain the surprise that formed on your face. "Really? Thank you, Miles! You didn't have to do that, y’know." You reached up to him and peppered a kiss on his cheek as a token of gratitude. "Nah, I wanted to." He dismisses it with a shrug.

The man gave you both your ice creams and said, "Have a good day!"

"Young love. A beautiful thing to see." The owner of the truck said as you both walked away.

You both sat on a bench surrounded by a garden of blooming flowers. It was quite scenic for Brooklyn. "Miles, look. He only has one eye!" You chuckled as you showed him your popsicle.

Unbeknownst to you, you had ice cream smeared on your face. He leaned in to wipe the corner of your mouth with his thumb, his gaze lingering on your lips. An almost too-intimate action for people who were just "classmates." But you brushed it off as him being friendly for a change.

"You're a mess, mami." He chuckled, shaking his head at you. You ignored how he made your stomach do flips.

Miles had led you to a rooftop that he frequents. It had an incredible view of the sun, despite all the tall buildings encased around you two.

Miles and you spent the rest of the evening together, basking in the presence of one another. You conversed for hours, only realizing the time when the sun started to set. Comfortable moments of silence were exchanged as you watched the sun disappear from the sky, the moon soon replacing it.

“It’s a full moon, isn’t it just beautiful?” You admired the moon as it shone down on the sullen streets of Brooklyn.

"Yeah, It is." He replied, but he wasn't looking at the moon. If you had just turned your head, you'd realize the true meaning of his words. He hadn't even noticed the moon. His eyes were fixated on you instead. He believed that the moon couldn't even hold a candle to you.

"Why haven't we done this before, Miles? I enjoyed hanging out with you today." You felt harmonious with him for once, laying your head against his shoulder as you studied his face.

"I did too, princesa. Maybe I will just wine and dine you someday." Miles said with a smirk, gazing down into your eyes with a borderline smitten expression.

A lightbulb suddenly enlightened your brain. You mentally banged your head against a wall. How could you be so naive to not realize it sooner?

You broke the tension in the air and raised your head to look into his eyes. "Is this a date? You know, people that are 'just' classmates don't go on dates." You told him cheekily.

Could he not have made it more obvious? He paused for a moment and said, “I don’t want to be just classmates.”

“So you want to be best friends? Great! Me too." You grinned, feigning naivety.

His face immediately dropped as he facepalmed himself. "Dios mío, no. That's not what I meant. Never mind, olvídalo." He said, shaking his head.

You beamed at him and laced your fingers with his. “I’m just messing with you, Miles. I like you too. In case you haven't noticed."

He sighed of relief as he lifted your entwined hands to press a soft kiss to the back of your hand. You stayed in each other's embrace for the rest of the night.

From that day forward, you never broke the unspoken agreement ever again. And Miles never had to worry about you associating with another douche again. Excluding himself.

You walked into class hand-in-hand the next day. The following days, as well. That's the way it was, and that's the way it would stay. And both of you were content with that.

_________

ella no es tú - she's not you

dios mío - my god

olvídalo - forget it

princesa - princess

[gothic-thoughts]

Get What You Ask For

(sry bout the mini hiatus, almost scrapped this shit like twice and had nothin else to post 🙄)

Ghost Riley x Black Fem Reader Smut

MDNI, Princess!Reader, Black Knight!Ghost, Bodyguard!Ghost

Part 2: Right Here

CW: trying to seduce him but he flips it on you, fingering in bath, not proofread

Word Count: 2182 (give or take)

Yes, you were the princess but that doesn't mean you didn't have a curfew. It was for your safety but you didn't care. The village was always prettier at night and you can only see the edge of it from your window. It wasn't fair and knowing that, you always managed to escape from the palace. Tonight was supposed to be the same as all the others until you opened your door and jumped back, clutching your chest at the sight of a Black Knight blocking your doorway. Despite his dark metal helmet resting under his arm, you still couldn’t see his face thanks to the black face mask that hid everything but his eyes.

"Princess." He bowed at his waist respectfully.

You stammer in confusion for half a second before composing yourself enough to bow back. “Good evening...?”

"You really like pushing your curfew a little farther every night, don't you?" He said in a low, mocking tone.

“And who, pray tell, are you?”

"I’m Simon Riley; they call me 'Ghost'."

“And what are you doing at my door...?”

"I have been assigned as your new bodyguard. It seems I've come at the perfect time."

You scoff in disbelief. “New? What happened to my old one?”

"Fired.” He said bluntly, sidestepping you as he walked into your room, “I'm afraid it's been decided that he cannot be trusted with your safety."

You groan slightly, shutting the door. “Who decided that!? The maids couldn’t have, they always comment on how good of an influence he was being.”

Simon didn’t answer for a bit, making you rest your hands on your hips and watch as he looked around. You watch his eyes dart about, taking note of everything in your room from the windows to the bathing area. He peeked through the curtains and looked out into the gardens below but little did you know he was envisioning how you escaped every night. He chuckles to himself and when you call his name in annoyance, he pulls the curtains shut before turning to look at you.

“Not a good enough influence it seems, seeing that you’re all dressed up for another secret night out.”

“Tell me who got Brian fired!”

Ghost crossed his arms over his chest, "The King, Princess." He said in a deadpan voice.

“What? You’re joking.”

“I don’t get paid to joke with you, I get paid to watch you.”

“That... That bastard hired a Black Knight to watch me instead of a different palace guard!? I know it might not have mattered, but I am not some criminal! Ugh, I can’t believe him!”

"I'm sure you'll live."

“Hush! You can't stay anyway, I haven't bathed yet so you'll have to go...”

“You have a divider; I’ll stand by the bed.”

“Uh, no. You're supposed to stand outside and guard the door.”

"Maybe your old guard. I've been given permission to remain by your side at all times.”

“I'm sorry, what?”

"Did I stutter?" Ghost starts walking, “Since you managed to sneak out, what, your father told me 15 times? You're stuck with me 24/7 until further notice, Princess, whether you like it or not. Bathing is the least of your worries."

The Black Knight was now standing right in front of you while you tried to play off how intimidating his intensity was with a disinterested groan despite feeling slightly defeated. You had planned to see the fountain in front of the village gates tonight only for it to be ruined by your father and your newly assigned guard dog. You begrudgingly walk over to the bathing area and pull the divider in front of the tub with a huff of frustration before running the bath. You put your hair up in a bun then drop your gown to the floor as a desperate, last-choice idea popped into your head. 

An idea that you've never tried on a knight, or had to try. Once naked, you step into the bubble bath and sit down, leaning back against the porcelain until I was up to my neck in hot water and soap bubbles. Ghost leaned against your bedpost, waiting for you to finish. He was used to staying by princesses and guarding them, but you were more of a pain than the others. He glanced at your discarded gown and then at the frosted glass separating you from him. You clear your throat, ready to put your plan into action.

“What village are you from, Ghost?”

"None that you would recognize, Miss." He called back. 

“I'm guessing you’re betrothed.”

"What makes you say that?"

“Well you're a big, strong knight... a soldier. Women adore feeling protected... So I was thinking one had tried to get you off the market.”

Your comment caught him off guard for a moment but he quickly recomposed himself, looking at the between you two again. 

"I’m not wed, Princess.”

“Mm... no women have captured your heart~? That's a shame...”

He scoffs to himself, rolling his eyes, “You think so?”

“I would think women would be clamoring to see what you look like under your helmet since intensity can be very attractive.”

"Princess, how long do you plan to stay in that tub?"

“I, um... need my towel! I must've left it out there, could you... bring it over?”

His eyes narrowed; it wasn't unusual for princesses to ask him for things, but this just seemed a bit too sketchy. He weighed his options for a moment before sighing to himself. He walked over to the bed and found the towel you had left behind then slowly approached the divider, his eyes narrowed the closer he got all while you smiled at the fact your plan was working.

“You can come around... I'm under the bubbles...”

Simon hesitated for a moment, getting the feeling you were up to something. He steps around the wall of frosted glass and glances at the bubbles that shroud every part of your body except the top of your breasts and up. He sighed before slowly stepping closer to the foot of your tub, his eyes never leaving your obscured body.

"Here's your towel, Princess."

He held out the towel towards the water, his eyes darting to the bubbles for a moment, thinking as you leaned forward, risking exposing more of your breasts to reach for the towel. He knows a princess would never do that— risk their modesty for a towel. Right as your fingers were about to get the soft fabric, Ghost quickly moved the towel just barely out of your reach, eyebrow-raising as your face changed.

“Wha- Ghost—” 

"You didn’t really think I’d fall for that, did you Princess?”

“What are you talking about, I haven't done anything!”

"You think I was born yesterday?" He steps around the bathtub until he squats behind you, whispering, "You and I both know that you were trying to pull.”

You look over your shoulder, “What are you talking about?”

“The old 'accidentally drop the towel' trick."

“I was not!”

"Oh and I'm supposed to believe that?"

“Yes, I may have snuck out but I—”

“You sound extremely defensive for someone who didn't try to pull that stunt."

“Because I didn’t! I would never!”

"If you say so, Princess. Then why did you ask me to bring you your towel?"

“Because...”

You tilt your head to the side to escape the nice feeling of his warm breath on your neck, Even though you tried to move away, you weren't fast enough. When you tilted your head to the side, it only brought his face closer to your neck, his breath grazing over your skin.

“Because...?”

“Because I forgot it—“

"Really?"

“Yes.” You snap, “I didn't know forgetting was an issue.”

“No, the issue is you want your bodyguard to see you...” You hear Simon drop the towel, “Covered in nothing but bubbles...” He gently wraps his hand around your neck, “In the hopes that I’d just crumble and let you go live la vida fucking loca...” He tilts your head back until you can see his eyes, “Just like your last guard did. Is that right?”

You tense, trembling slightly as you search for any words to reply with. How was he doing this to you with fear? You were a Princess— the daughter of his king— he wasn’t supposed to talk to you this boldly, much less touch you like this. You knew he was a different type of knight but that always meant he was brutal and such but this was different.

You were now terrified of him since he didn’t care about any rules or regulations regarding touching a princess, that, and the fact that he could break your neck right here with a single grunt. He was terrifying but you were so consumed by curiosity, you didn’t dare say anything to make him think that you wanted him to stop touching you. A low sigh escaped Ghost’s lips as he looked down at you, his cold eyes meeting yours for the first time.

“You very are a difficult person to guard, you know that?” He gently squeezes your throat, his thumb running over your pulse in a slow, taunting manner, “And the worst part of that is you're only difficult because you won't let me."

You gasp as his other hand comes around and slides down into the bubbles to massage your breasts, rough fingers pinching your nipple and rolling it back and forth.

“Y-you...”

“Mhm? What is it Princess?”

“Y-you can't touch me like th-this...”

He scoffed and tilted your head so you were looking into his eyes again. “So you can try to manipulate me... and now you’re telling me what I can and can’t do?”

“Well, I-I...”

“You’ve been nothing but a nuisance since I arrived, trying to get me to let down my guard. You’ve played your games and now it’s my turn.”

His hands were roaming your body, caressing every inch as he pleased. Eventually, his hand lowers deeper into the water, keeping your head tilted back as his hands slot between your thighs, making you gasp and tense up, looking up at him. He feels you stiffen beneath him but continues to tease your body slowly. He could see that you were having trouble fighting the words on your lips as he explored every inch of your body in the water. Slowly, one of his fingers slips deeper between your legs, gently grazing over your core to test your reaction.

“O-Oh my god...”

“Mm?”

He chuckled lowly and gently massaged between your folds, feeling the warmth radiating from your body. He was slowly getting addicted to it and you were getting so needy. He didn’t want this to end. Simon leaned forward a bit more, his lips grazing over the shell of your ear as he spoke.

“Still going to sit there and keep insisting that you didn’t try and trick me?”

Your legs try to close. “I-I wasn't...”

He tsked and shoved your thighs back apart, your knees thudding against the inside of the tub, the fingers slipping inside you.

“Keep 'em open.” His lips lightly brushed over your neck, slowly kissing you before moving back up to continue, "Oh and I don’t believe you.”

He said, gently spreading you open for his fingers to push deeper inside with ease. He could feel every twitch you made as he stroked your walls with slow, circular motions.

“I... I should tell my father about this...

He laughed at your comment and his hand stopped, pulling back from you. He was so close to just giving in and taking you completely.

“You could, Princess." He said bluntly while looking at your flustered face, “Be sure not to leave out the part about you seducing me.”

“You're a Black Knight, you’re not supposed to be seduced...”

He curls his fingers inside you. “And you’re supposed to behave, but that hasn’t stopped either of us from breaking the rules.”

Your head falls back further and rests on the edge of the tub. “Y-you're... a bastard.”

“Mhm.” He said as he gently ran his hand over your clit, pressing a finger into your warmth, “And you’re a spoiled fucking brat.”

You look back down, whimpering at how sexy his muscular arm looked disappearing into the bubbles. His hand moved to grip your cheek so you were looking at him again, loving how flustered and needy you looked as you stared up at him with pleading eyes.

“I wonder what your father would think of this.” His thumb gently grazed over your bottom lip, “He’d be livid wouldn’t he~?”

“Shut it...”

“Or you’ll do what?”

“I'll... I'll get you f-fired...”

His fingers curl, pumping in and out even faster, using his other hand to cover your mouth.

“You won’t.” He hums and gently massages circles on your clit with his thumb, a small smile dancing across his lips, “You’re too busy enjoying this.”

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Part 2 right here y'all

[nellielsss]

⤜♡→ ɯҽʅƈσɱҽ ԋσɱҽ, ԃαɾʅιɳɠ!

Summary: something soft and sweet... you've missed him, & he's missed you! Give him a big, welcome home kiss; it'll take all that stress away! Note: pure fluff! I've been stressed out recently and I need some comfort. IB by Plastic off the Sofa by Beyoncé. I also kinda went overboard on Toji's bit. This shall also be edited later on, I just wanted to post it immediately so I could go to bed 💀 IT'S ALSO 11.3K WORDS SOO Incl: Toji Fushiguro, Kento Nanami, Satoru Gojo, Yami Sukehiro CW: lewd jokes (kinda)

╰┈➤ Work... so, so much work. It's like the jobs are never-ending! After Toji Zen'in decided to take up some more work in order to provide for your guys' future and the lifestyle you deserved, the amount of jobs that he's taken up has increased tenfold. Even he, a man who was in peak, even superhuman physical condition, had his limits. The number of jobs he's ground out has to be in the double digits (and not some puny number in the tens). After the 21st job, he gave up on keeping count. He was able to justify the grueling workload, though, because of you. You were his everything, the reason for doing what he did (which included living), and he'd be damned if he couldn't spoil his future wife like he wanted.

Finally, he had earned enough to satisfy his unrelenting need to provide for you after he closed up on his last and biggest mission yet: a job that took 3 days and paid him over 48 million yen (~300,000 USD). It was enough to last the two of you for the rest of the year and then some. The man breathed a sigh of relief when he got the bank notification on his cellphone, and he said to himself: "a job well done, Zen'in." He even smiled in public a little bit at the sight of it. He then put the phone in his pant pocket and went on his merry way back home to you.

You, meanwhile, were in the living room of your shared apartment, fixing up a little celebratory dinner. He'd told you about how this was the last night he was gonna come home late, how this was the last job that would keep you apart, how he was gonna take you on an all expenses paid shopping trip the minute you had time to go with him to Shibuya. You knew he had certain sacrifices to make, given the fact that neither of you had much money when you started dating, and that was why you never chose to complain.

But that didn't mean that you didn't miss him.

You missed his touch, you missed his tender kisses, the way that he held you close as if he was afraid of you being stolen from him by some unseen force, and you sure as shit missed all the nights spent together in each other's company watching shitty movies & UFC fights.

The way he tilted your chin up to make you kiss him, the way the words "pretty" and "doll" rolled right off his tongue, the way he looked at you like you were god's gift to this shitty world...

All of a sudden, you heard the door swing open with the sounds of the rain pitter-pattering outside of the balcony entrance. You knew he was coming home earlier tonight, but you didn't know he'd be home that early!

"Princess?" his gruff voice called out from the door. He closed the door behind him and dropped his robust duffel bags next to the door, letting out another sigh of happiness. He looked up at the ceiling lamp before looking back in front of him, and he outstretched his arms the moment he saw you coming from down the hallway. "Princess," he repeated, a soft smile growing across his face as you jumped into his embrace. He wrapped his arms around you tightly, burying his face into your neck.

"Toji!" You exclaimed into his black sweater, breathing in his natural smell... and he smelled just like home. He always managed to smell good, even when his job involved less-than-ideal activities. "I missed you," was what you finally said after the two of you took in each other's presence.

"Missed you too," he hummed, craning his head to look down at you. "God, I've missed you... missed you so much, baby." His mind was so swamped with work, he had forgotten what a beauty he held in his arms. After he took a few moments to admire you, his sense of smell brought him back to reality, and he could smell his favorite meal from the kitchen. "Is that... offal meat I smell?" he asked, looking at the kitchen and then back at you.

"It sure is," you replied excitedly, making his smile grow even wider.

"Princess, did you really make my favorite?" he asked to which you nodded and giggled. "You didn't have to, baby," he replied, ruffling your hair gently with his big hand.

You pulled away from his embrace and he pouted instinctively, not wanting you to go anywhere just yet. "I didn't know when you were coming home, so it's not ready just yet." He watched the sexy sway of your hips before catching up to you, not wanting to leave his princess by herself after just seeing her again.

"I don't mind," he replied, following you into the kitchen. He stood behind you as you continued prepping it and he wrapped his arms around your waist. "I thought you didn't like it, though?"

"I still don't," you corrected him, "but I just figured that, with how tired from work you must be, you'd enjoy it."

He continued smiling down at you and placed his lips on your head. "You really are the best, y'know?" he muttered in between crown kisses.

"I know," you replied coolly, as if you didn't just make his favorite meal.

"Still cocky as ever, I see," he quipped, making you giggle again.

"Go ahead and sit down on the couch. It won't be ready for another ten minutes, and you must be exhausted from all this work." You looked over your shoulder at him, only to see that he wasn't budging. "Toji, I'm serious! I know you're the big, bad 'sorcerer killer' and whatever else you might be, but even you need to take a break every now and then. I don't want you throwing your back when you're still in your prime!"

"Nuh-uh," he shook his head, hiding his face in your neck. "Don't wanna; not when I've got the best thing in the world right in my arms, and who's to say I'm reaching my end soon? I'm just getting started, sweetness," he replied with a confident grin. You didn't say anything in response, instead grabbing him by the hand and dragging him to the couch. "Princess..."

"Just sit down already, you stubborn brute," you muttered under your breath. "Sit down, and let me take care of you for once. Just rest your feet and wait 'til I'm done making dinner, okay?"

He didn't say anything, instead crossing his arms over his chest like an impotent teenager. "Fine, fine... I guess I'll relax for a 'lil. Now go on, don't let the meat burn."

"I'll make sure it's cooked to perfection, you big baby," you reassured him. He cracked a little smile and watched you walk off, going to finish the meal that you'd cooked especially for his return from work. He guessed it wasn't too bad to let you take the reins every once in a while... he was always the one bringing home the dough, making dinner for the two of you, and making sure that your pretty little face didn't have a single stress line or brow furrow on it.

He kicked up his feet on the wooden coffee table and patiently waited for you to finish. He wasn't exactly used to relaxing and lounging around when you were doing stuff; he was always the one taking care of his sweet baby.

So, he looked around at the apartment the two of you shared. His green eyes scanned over everything, from the framed portraits to the color palette you used for the living room. He grabbed a nearby photo of the two of you, and he couldn't help but smile: it was a photo of you two at an ice skating rink. He remembered that day so, so fondly, the memory of you helping him learn making his heart swell with affection and joy.

You looked so effortlessly cute in that little knitted beret of yours, and the matching grey & pink Burberry cape & skirt combo only made you look even cuter. A stark contrast to his usual all-black or grey ensembles, but in your eyes, the contrast only made him hotter in your eyes.

The two of you were just so different, and yet; you were perfect for one another. You went together like jam and toast, with you being the oh-so sweet strawberry jam that he couldn't get enough of.

Oh, how he loved ravishing you any chance he could get. The feeling of your soft, untainted & supple skin against his scars; your soft chest squished against his hard one; the way your plush thighs expanded when he bent your knees to your chest...

He was just so incredibly in love with you that coming home to you and bringing you flowers was the highlight of his day.

After all, ou were the one who showed him how to love. You were the one who restored his faith in humanity, and you were the one who made him feel like he was more than Zen'in trash.

You were a paladin sent from heaven, and he'd rip apart anyone with his bare claws if they tried to take you away from him. He'd tear the throat & heart out of the people who so much as even thought about doing so.

Because, you... you were home to him.

"It's readyyy!" you sang from the kitchen, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Coming, princess," he called out to you, getting off the sofa and sauntering over to the dining table. It was laid out beautifully, the fine china he stole obtained from a client and the silverware he also stole making everything just perfect.

"Doll..." he walked over to you, wrapping his big arms around you and cradling you close. "You didn't have to do all of this for me, y'know?"

"I know; just wanted to make you feel appreciated, was all." You flashed him a bright smile, and he felt his heart skip a beat. That smile... fuck, he could just devour you for dinner and skip all this other stuff.

"Even so much as looking in my direction makes me feel appreciated, baby, but I appreciate the dinner regardless." He pulled you in close and pressed some kisses along your spine, inhaling your scent like you were the oxygen needed for him to live. "God.... god, god, god--I don't even know what I did to deserve you, baby. You're the best fuckin' woman I've ever had the pleasure of meeting."

"You don't have to do anything but love me, Toji," you whispered back, a rare moment of vulnerability shining through. "You love me more than any man ever has, and for that I cannot repay you. All you have to do is protect me and maybe give me a couple kisses, though."

His eyes widened and closed slightly, his mind registering the ambrosia of your words. "Doll... you're gonna make me cry over meat, y'know?"

"Oh, Toji," you giggled, grabbing either side of his face. "Try not to cry over the offal; it'l make it soggy and gross."

"You're right, you're right," he conceded, taking his place at the table. He took a bite of the meal that you so graciously prepared for him, and his eyes widened--it was like the food came straight from heaven. "This is... delicious, doll. How the hell did you make it so tender?"

"You think so? I'm not much of a cook, but I'll take the compliments regardless," you giggled. "So, now that you have work off for the rest of the year, where are we headed off to? Kyoto? Okinawa?" you asked in between bites, finding the meat surprisingly good yourself. "I've got a vacation lined up soon, perhaps we could get out of Tokyo for a little while.

"Hm... a vacation would be nice," he pondered for a moment. "But, if we're talking about a vacation after I just got my big pay day, you might wanna think bigger than just Japan, baby," he retorted with a sly grin.

"Paris?" you asked sarcastically.

He didn't say anything, instead smiling at you knowingly. You quickly realized that he wasn't joking around with you. "Toji... Toji!" you repeated, jumping up from your seat and hugging him. "You're taking me to Paris?! Oh my god, I just love you, Toji!"

"Only the best for my princess," he chuckled. "Figured I'd spoil ya with my little check. I don't gotta work for the rest of the year, so we can plan according to your schedule, baby. I'm thinking after Paris, we can go to Rome, too."

You looked at him again, a satisfied smile gracing your gorgeous features. "I am so gonna suck your dick," you sighed, making him burst out in laughter

"I was gonna give it to ya with no strings attached, but, hey; I'm not stopping ya!"

Curiosity got the better of you, and you had to ask: "but, if you've already got it planned, then... how'd you know I'd have the weeks off?"

He shrugged. "Just a sixth sense. May have pulled a few strings here and there, but it's no biggie."

"Wait, that was you who got me the time off? No wonder it was for 3 weeks; I usually never get a vacation!"

"Baby, you already know I'd do anything for you. I've dealt with way more stressful situations than talking to your boss, so it really was nothing for me." By the way he said it, you could just tell that he was being serious. The man's an assassin--if he wanted something done, he'd get it done.

You continued to eat your food only you smiled at him the entire time. "Paris... I've never been to Paris before," you sighed dreamily. "I've always wanted to go there since I was little."

"Well, now's your chance," Toji hummed. "The city of love with your love, does it get any better than that?"

You put your chopsticks down and smiled brightly at him. "No, it really doesn't." You leaned in, pressing a nice, big kiss to his cheek. You were about to pull away when he pulled you back in, clearly demanding more.

"Nah, don't gimme those cheek kisses; kiss me on the lips like I'm your boyfriend," he demanded, making you laugh again. He pulled you in by the waist, plopped you on his lap, and all but smothered your face in a big, sloppy kiss. "Baby, I gotta tell ya," he murmured in between smooches, "and I know I've told you this a lot," even more kisses, "but you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I don't even know what possessed you to pick me, but I am one lucky bastard... good god, woman, why do your lips taste so fucking good?"

"It's the taste of love," you murmured. Normally, he would've recoiled at how mushy your words were, but every ounce of mush made him hungrier for more.

"Whatever it may be... I want more of it. Order up!" he joked, making you giggle yet again. "C'mon, let's finish this meal up so we can get to the good part: the cuddles."

"You don't wanna have sex?" you asked with a furrowed brow.

"Sorry, sweetheart, but I'm kinda tired. I know we have it every night we're together, but I'm wiped from all the work. Let's just cuddle, yeah? I don't mean to disappoint you or anything, baby..."

You put a hand on his cheek and rubbed it soothingly. "You're not disappointing me; you could never disappoint me. I was just a little confused, but it's alright. We can cuddle." Your hand subconsciously rubbed the scar on his lip, and he couldn't help but smile at you.

"You're the best, sweetheart," he whispered before hiding his face in the crook of your neck.

"Ahh," Toji sighed as he laid down on the bed next to you, "this is just what I needed, sweet stuff." He grabbed you by the waist and pulled you in, wrapping his big arms around your body.

You were currently laying down on your shared bed when he finally made his way into the bedroom. Toji had to take a quick shower before he could engage in any sort of cuddles with you, due to the fact that he smelled like blood and bones. He threw on a sweater over his still-damp body and immediately got into bed with you.

"C'mere, big boy," you said giddily, "and gimme some love."

"You don't have to tell me twice." After a few seconds of kissing, his hands roamed around your body and went up your shirt.

"Didn't you tell me that you didn't wanna have sex?" you asked jokingly, your eyebrow raised.

"I just wanna touch my woman, not touch her like that," he quipped to which you giggled and kissed him again.

"I know, I know. I just felt like teasin' ya," you hummed, booping his sharp nose with the tip of your finger. He merely shook his head and continued kissing you, the scar on his lip tickling your own lips. Still, you welcomed that tickle--for that tickle represented how tough and strong Toji was. It was funny how something so small could have such a huge effect on the man, for where Toji saw a remnant of his weakness and his disgusting past, you saw his bravery and his courageousness. It was like a trophy in your eyes, a shiny, gold object that you couldn't help but admire.

It was a damn shame he couldn't see it the way you did.

But why would he? It did represent the ugliness of the Zen'in clan, the clan that abused him and took him for granted. So, instead of starting a debate over a scar of all things; you decided to remind him of his worth in a way that wouldn't stir up bad memories for him.

"Toji, my big, handsome baby," you started, your lips moving from his to his cheek.

"Hmmm? What is it, my sweet, beautiful princess?"

You kissed a trail from his cheeks and to the bridge of his nose. "I just... can't help but admire you, y'know?"

He quirked an eyebrow (which you kissed) and looked at you more intently. "Elaborate."

"You're just such a strong man, both physically and mentally. You care for me in ways no man ever has before, and you cradle me to your heart as if I'd shatter if dropped." After kissing his eyebrow (which he still found odd), you moved his bangs out of the way and kissed his forehead several times.

"Now you're just butterin' me up, doll," he chuckled with a light pink blush.

"You're incredible, y'know?" you murmured, "an incredible man, so worthy of my respect and love... you look at me like I'm the Earth and you're the Moon."

"That's because you are, baby," he muttered.

You simply smiled at him and continued kissing him. "You've had a rough life, but you're still here; you're stronger, if anything. You're resilient in ways I could only dream of being."

By this point, Toji had gone silent, the sudden rush of emotions making him stop talking. He didn't wanna start crying in the middle of your little trail of kisses, after all.

"Do you know how much I love you, Toji?" this time, instead of continuing to kiss him, you pulled back and looked at him.

He nodded silently.

"I love you more than anything, baby. I love you more than... well, I honestly can't think of anything that comes close to you in terms of love."

"Baby-" he choked up, his voice cracking slightly.

"You don't have to speak, Toji. Just hold me and let me tell you how much I love you, 'kay? You've had a rough week, so just sit back, relax, and let me take care of you." You pressed another kiss to his nose and smiled at him.

He nodded, going back to silence. Your lips moved from his nose to his lips, and you pressed a special kiss to where his scar was. His eyes widened, knowing good and well what you were doing. You didn't have to tell him; you just had to kiss him in that special spot--the spot which was the bane of his existence.

A few more kisses to the scar, and you pulled back again. "I love you, Toji... I love you, love you, love you, love you, love youu, I love you..." the little whispers of your love came out of your lips like a never-ending stream in spring, like a waterfall after a rainstorm. With each "I love you," Toji felt himself being pushed to the brink of losing it.

You, the ever-vigilant girl that you were, picked up on this quite easily. It was easy to tell when he was on the brink of breaking down, especially since he tried to hide his gaze and the quiver of his lip. So, you gave him the go ahead: "go on, Toji, cry your heart out."

And so he did. He buried his face within the crook of your neck and started crying, his entire body being wracked with emotion. You sat up on the bed and got into a more comfortable position so that he could be soothed.

"C'mon, Toji, just let it out. I'm never gonna judge you for anything; not a single thing, do you hear me?" you whispered into his ear. He nodded and simply wrapped his entire body around yours. He was twice the size of you; but right now, he felt like the littlest man on Earth. He felt like the little Zen'in boy who was cast aside and tossed into a pit of horrors; like the young man who found himself on the brink of homelessness; like the scared & scarred lost soul.

He may have been scarred, but right now, he wasn't scared, nor was he lost.

He was home.

"I f-fucking love you, princess," he managed to choke out in between sobs, his head slightly craned up to look at you through his tears. "D-Do you hear me? If I ever lose you--if I ever hurt you-"

"You needn't think about that right now, Toji. Just cry, baby. Cry all the tears you've been bottling up, and let me pick up the pieces after you're done."

He nodded, burying his face into your torso and crying his eyes out. The pink sweater which you had on was now wet and damp from all the crying, but that could be fixed with a simple dry. Right now, you were focused on your boyfriend.

"I'll always be here to pick up the pieces."

╰┈➤ Overtime could be such a pain, especially for Kento Nanami. Seriously: the thought of spending his entire day (the time after 6 PM) fighting a bunch of ugly, hideous curses who did nothing but attack and kill innocent people was more repulsive than the curses themselves. At least, while he was dating you, his sweetheart. You were everything to Nanami. In his eyes, you were a lighthouse in a dangerous ocean filled with stormy waters and jagged rocks that tore apart the boats that passed through the area; you were iced lemonade on a hot summer day; you were an angel sent from heaven itself to heal his past troubles and give him a much needed break.

This day was no different. Kento was in severe need of some comfort, and he looked to you for help. Normally, he wouldn't dump all his trouble on you, but it was growing to be way too much for him.

"Ugh... so tired..." the blonde man said to himself. He grabbed the Rolex watch that you gifted him for your anniversary and checked the time: 5:53 PM. Just 7 short minutes, and he'd be able to go back home to you.

Time never seemed to go by as fast as it did when he wanted it to, nor did it go by as slow as when he wanted it to. It was like his workdays were 10 hours long, and the time he spent with you was 1.

"Hey, Nanamiiiin~!" the oh-so annoying voice of Satoru Gojo, his "coworker," perked up.

"Why are you always here at the worst times?"

"You're always so mean, do you ever lighten up?" the white-haired man pouted before settling into a chair next to him. He relaxed into it and stretched his long legs out. "Sooo, Nanamin, you got any plans for after work?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Do you... wanna tell me 'bout em?"

"No, I don't."

"Aw, come on! You're not making this any easier for me," Gojo whined, rolling around in the chair.

"That's because I don't want to."

"Hmph." He crossed his arms and pouted again, looking around for something to do. "Neither of us wanna be here so late, anyway--and we both wanna go home. Why not a little bit of small talk with your favorite before we head out?"

"You're not my favorite; Itadori is, but fine, I'll humor you." He grabbed his wallet and opened it up, showing Gojo a photo of you. "My after work plans are to pick up some flowers on the way home & head home to my wife."

Gojo looked at the photo for a few seconds before chuckling a bit. "Yeah, that checks out. I mean, if I was in a relationship, I'd also wanna head home ASAP. Think I could help you pick those flowers out?"

"No, you don't know what kind of flowers she likes."

"Hmph." He pouted once again.

Nanami grabbed the wallet and smiled at it softly for a few seconds. "She likes peonies and irises..." he trailed off. Gojo didn't say anything, instead smiling at his adoration for you. The clock finally hit 6, and Nanami sprang up from his chair, grabbed his belongings, and sped off home. "Have a good rest of your day, Satoru," he called over his shoulder.

"You too, Nanamin," he replied softly.

"I wonder what's taking him so long," you hummed to yourself over your dinner plate. You were currently seated at the dining table of your shared apartment, the one that you bought after getting married 2 years ago. You looked around at everything, at the life that the two of you had built after so many years of dating, engagement & marriage.

Like the couch that Nanami had brought with him when you were moving in together. It was a cream leather couch--nothing special or amazing, but it was a moniker of your relationship's progress.

Or the hardwood table that sat next to it. It was one of the many things that the two of you had purchased when you were buying furniture for the apartment.

It wasn't just the material possessions that were markers of your progress: the photos of the two of you that hung on the walls; the little souvenirs you picked up in places like Malaysia; and the stuff you bought at flea markets were markers of such.

"He's never late... he's always home at 6:20," you pouted. "He's not... no, what am I thinking? He's been late before."

Just as you'd said those words, you heard the door unlock, and your head swiveled in the direction of the sound.

"Honey? I'm home!" he called out. He loosened his tie and took it off, and then he took his blazer off and hung it up on the wall. He was met by the sight of you walking towards him, your heels clicking on the hardwood floors.

"Welcome home, darling!" You enthused, throwing your arms around your beloved's shoulders and kissing him. Your hug was cushioned by the flowers which crinkled under the compression, and you looked down at it. "Oh, shoot, sorry! I didn't see those there--are they for me?"

"Who else would they be for?" he retorted, making you smile.

"Well... I guess you're right!" You giggled and pressed a kiss to his cheek again. You took his blazer and put it in his closet, and then you returned to his awaiting arms. "How was work?"

"The same," he sighed, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. "Satoru was bothering me, as per usual, and I didn't have any more missions than usual. It was really quite boring."

"Well, then, I'll make sure your evening's not boring," you promised him.

"They could never be boring with you."

Your smile widened in response. "Come, come; let's eat dinner before it gets cold, kay?" He nodded happily and followed you to the table, and he took his place beside you.

"You're always treating me so amazing, sweetheart," he sighed as he relaxed into the soft chair.

"It's just dinner," you said bashfully, waving your hand around.

"Even if it was just ramen, it was you made it for me, therefore it makes it all the more special."

"So, you're saying you want me to make us microwaved ramen?" you teased with a cocked eyebrow.

"Well... if you made it, I'd still eat it, yes."

You couldn't help but giggle, and he chuckled as well. "Don't worry; I'd never subject you to that kind of torment. If we're gonna be starting a family soon, then I'll need to hone my skills as a mother & make sure our kids will be well-fed!"

Ah, that's right: you were starting a family soon. There was a reason you looked for a 3-bed and not a 2-bed when you went apartment shopping. The mention of your future kids reminded him of all the names that the two of you mulled over. You were still finding the perfect ones, but you still had time to settle on them.

"Kento, eat up already! Don't let my hard work go to waste," you said as you picked up the katsu curry with your signature pink chopsticks. Even after becoming Mrs. (Y/N) Nanami, you still stayed true to your pink ways.

"Sorry, sorry. I wouldn't wanna tarnish my beautiful wife's handiwork; not even a little bit."

"It's just dinner," you reminded him, making him chuckle.

"You're right, you're right," he conceded. "Happy wife, happy life."

After dinner ended, and you tried to clean up both of your plates, Nanami stopped you. "Here, let me, sweetheart," he said before standing up.

"There's no need, Kento," you stopped him by putting your hand on his wrist. "You were at work all day; just sit back and let me handle all the heavy lifting."

He was about to protest when he saw the look in your eyes. Normally, he wouldn't let you lift a single finger; but he saw how determined you were to do this simple act of cleaning up the dirty dishes. He knew he had no choice but to let you have your way. Therefore, he sat back down at the table. "Okay, sweetheart. I'll let you do your thing," he nodded. "Just don't dirty up that shirt of yours."

You flashed him a smile and rolled the sleeves of your pink silk blouse up. "I wouldn't dream of it." You then grabbed the plates and made quick work of them in the sink & put them away in the dishwasher. Then, you returned to him and unfolded your sleeves again. "Now, then, what would my amazing & handsome & super sexy husband like to do now?"

His eyebrow raised the more adjectives you used to describe him. "Well, your husband would like to cuddle with his wife for a little bit. Would she like that?"

You nodded giddily, dragging him by the arm already. "Hurry up, slowpoke!" you quipped, making him chuckle again. He didn't say a word as you kicked off your heels & climbed onto the bed, taking extra time just to pose extra sexily for him. Your smile quickly dropped when he went to the dresser and started taking all of his stuff off. "Kento!" you whined as he took off his rolex.

"I don't want all this stuff making you uncomfortable while we cuddle," he retorted, bringing a gasp & a smile to your face.

"Fine, fine... just get over here the millisecond you finish."

And go over there he did. He kicked off his house shoes and finally stepped onto the bed where you patiently waited, and he pulled you into a nice, warm hug. "C'mere already, let me hug you," he muttered as he did so.

"I wouldn't dream of denying you," you sighed happily. He sank his lips & nose into the top of your head and took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of your shampoo and perfume like a man who hasn't seen his partner after spending time apart.

"Do you know how much I love you, (Y/N)?" he asked you quietly, now looking down at you.

"You tell me everyday," you murmured contently.

"It's not enough... need to remind you every chance I get," he whispered, pressing several kisses to your scalp. "You don't know how important you are to me, sweetheart. You're one of the only good things of mine that are untouched, untainted by the hideous double life I live.

"Ken, don't think about that, hm? Matter of fact: if you wanna quit and leave that life behind, then you should. It's not good for you, or for us," you whispered with a tinge of sadness in your voice.

He looked off to the side, took a deep breath, and looked back at you. "One day, I will. It pays well, and it makes our dream lives much more attainable... we could go for ages without needing to work."

You smiled sadly at him and put your head back on his chest. "Whatever you need to do, I'll support you in it. Just... promise me it'll reach an endpoint, okay? I don't wanna see you struggle just to provide for us."

"I'll do anything for you, sweetheart. Even sacrifice myself just to do so. I'll fall if it means you can rise." You looked at him one last time before closing your eyes.

"Just be sure I can catch you when you fall, alright?"

╰┈➤ "Work... so much work..." the white-haired man's face fell into the equally white stack of papers which he had to grade. Satoru Gojo prided himself on being a good teacher, however, one of the pitfalls of being a teacher involved grading all these papers. It's not like he taught some boring subjects like history or--god forbid--algebra! But, even so, he hated this part of the job.

Being a teacher was a surprisingly rewarding job for the man. Even though he initially had no expectations outside of producing good sorcerers, he actually liked the job. He got to meet some amazing students & prodigies and, if he did a good job, then he'd create an amazing generation of future sorcerers!

But, part of that nurturing process was grading these stupid papers.

When he graded one paper, another 10 would appear. By the time he'd be done with these stacks of tests and assignments, then it'd be past midnight for him.

And he couldn't let his job cut into his relationship with you--not when he made a promise to never let you feel taken for granted.

Then again, he had deadlines and other, different responsibilities to fulfill.

"Gotta get through these papers, Satoru... don't wanna spend another day in this stupid office."

"Yoohoo!"

A voice appeared from behind Gojo and he almost jumped out of his seat and hollow purpled you. "(Y-Y/N), what are you doing here at this hour?! Geez, you almost gave me a heart attack there!" He tried to pass off his initially embarrassing scare by laughing it off and rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well, Nanamin told me about how you'd been spending all this time cooped up in your office, and, since it's been cutting into our relationship time: I figured it'd do me some good to come and see you myself!" Before he could even respond, you pulled up a chair and sat next to your boyfriend.

"Pookie-bear, I don't want you to sacrifice your quality time for me," he retorted with a pout.

You rolled your eyes at his silly little nickname. "Every time you call me pookie-bear, it's almost impossible to take you seriously. Anyway, quality time is only quality time if I spend it with you or shopping, and shopping is never fun without you."

"It's because my wallet's limitless, isn't it?"

"Well... it never hurts you if your wallet's a bottomless pit of money, does it?" He couldn't exactly refute that statement, so he merely laughed.

"Alrighty, then. If that's how you really feel, then I suppose I can't exactly kick you out. But I must warn you, sugar-bear: it's gonna be really boring to sit around and grade all this stuff with me."

"Good thing I'm also a teacher," you giggled, scooching closer to him.

"Right, I forgot you're a teacher... probably because you teach a subject as lame as Japanese history!" he teased you, ruffling your hair.

"It's not lame--what do you even do, huh? Teach all this stupid stuff like 'cursed energy' which we've known since birth?! You might as well be teaching chemistry," you snarked back, effectively shutting him up.

"I'm so hurt!" he said dramatically, "my girlfriend thinks my subject matter isn't important..." he even put his hand on his forehead and pretended to die.

"Ate you up," you snickered, grabbing one of the stacks and looking at it. "Hmm... this stuff's not too hard to grade, but I can see why you've been cooped up in here since there's so much of it."

"Baby, I don't want you to die of boredom," Gojo whined, pressing his cheek to the top of your head. "Seriously, it's gonna make you look at me like I'm some sort of loser."

You scoffed and looked up at your boyfriend. "Satoru, it's fine. I can handle grading a couple of dumb papers. You most likely think that I'll die of boredom because of the number of papers you've graded on your own. You probably mistook the boredom as difficulty--so really, it's fine."

Gojo was now agape at your observation, given how spot on it was. "That's... exactly how I felt about it. Damn, baby, you're a smart one."

"Did you think I was dumb or something?"

"Well, no!"

"It's fine, it's fine--I'm just messin' with ya. If I was dumb, you probably wouldn't have liked me from the jump." You were already on your fifth paper by the time you were at this point in the conversation. "And, anyway, even if it is as boring as you say it is, then it'll be cut in half by my assistance. Then, we can go home, pick up some kikufuku, and then watch some stupid movie & go to bed in our new matching PJs. Now, doesn't that outweigh the boredom?"

"Well, when you put it like that..." Gojo pretended to think before he threw his hands up. "It does!"

You giggled and kissed his cheek. "I knew you were a smart one."

The two of you decided to focus on the papers and lock in so that you could get out of that room quicker. He wasn't lying; there was an immense amount of stuff that needed to be graded, and his inability to sit in peace didn't make it any easier for the two of you. He'd poke your sides, try to pull you into his lap, and almost fall asleep on your head.

"Satoru," you said in warning, "focus. If you want that kikufuku, then you'd better grade these things. We can play some music... actually, you'd probably get even more distracted."

"Aw, babe! I liked the idea of listening to music," he whined with his signature pout. "Ugh, why did I have to take up teaching!" He complained, putting his hands over his face.

"Because you make bad choices," you said while taking his hands off his face. "Now, put these fingers to good use-"

"Good use? I can think of more than a few-"

"Satoru!"

"Sorry..."

You took a deep breath. "As I was saying, put these hands to good use and keep grading, alright?" You even put your hands on the pencil he was holding and he solemnly nodded.

"Fine... only because you're asking me." He picked up his pen and started grading it again, and he actually managed to focus on his papers.

23... 24... 25...

32... 33... 34...

49... 50... 51...

Geez, how many students did he even teach?! It was actually beginning to look like he was reaching his limit with this grading effort. Many things in this world were limitless, and that included his papers

"(Y/N)-" he was about to ask if you guys were any close to being done when he looked at the number of papers that were left on the table.

They were almost gone.

"Oh," he said, rather unceremoniously. "They're... they're almost gone?"

"Hm?" you looked over at Gojo, confused as to why he was confused. "Yeah, they are. We graded them quite quickly, if you couldn't tell," you explained with a light smile on your face. "Just about 9 more, and then we can head home-"

"WOOOHOOO!!!!" he had to resist the urge to jump up from the table and run around the room, but he luckily had you to keep him in his seat.

"Easy there," you steadied him. "We still have nine to grade, so don't start celebrating just yet."

9... 8... 7...

6... 5... 4...

3... 2... 1...

"WOOOHOOO!!!!" this time, he was actually able to get out of his seat and stretch his legs. "Finally--we can go home!"

"Satoru, calm down! Don't wake up the students- hey!" He'd suddenly scooped you up off your chair and started running from the building. "I CAN WALK, Y'KNOW!!"

"Why would you need to when you're dating the strongest?!"

"This is way better than spending the rest of my days at that school," Gojo sighed while munching on his kikufuku. Naturally, he had to buy at least 9 boxes of it, just to satisfy his limitless appetite. You, a normal person, had only 2 of them.

"How do you stay in shape when you eat all that sugar and do nothing all day long?" you asked, looking at the empty boxes of sweets that he chowed down on.

"Because... my metabolism... is great!" he replied, his mouth full of the food. He swallowed all the food was in his mouth, then dove right back into his kikufuku. "Are you calling me fat, babe?" he asked, pouting at you slightly.

"Well... you're not fat; you just eat three times as much as I do."

"Well one of us has to eat! How else will these vendors stay in business?"

"Leave it to your limitless wallet and appetite," you sighed, deciding to enjoy the sweets for yourself. In the time that it took for you to finish your boxes, he had already eaten all 9 of his.

"Ahh, that sure hit the spot," Gojo sighed, settling back into his seat and stretching his long limbs out.

"I hope it did, since you ate 9 boxes," you muttered before stretching yourself. "Fuck, am I beat... maybe I should've heeded your advice and gone home instead of helping you."

He sat up a bit and looked at you through his messy white bangs. "But, if you didn't, then I'd still be at school, and you'd be all alone."

"I know, I know," you conceded, reaching out to move his bangs from his forehead. "I wouldn't have my handsome boyfriend keeping me company."

"Did you just call me handsome?" the smile on his face grew in size, and you couldn't help but smile back at him.

"Yeah, I did--because you're very handsome~"

"C'mere, you, and give your handsome boyfriend some sugar," he said giddily, already pulling you into his lap.

"You've already eaten enough sugar!" you protested as he pulled you in.

"I've got a sweet tooth, baby, and you're the sweetest thing I've ever sunk my teeth into." He finally had you where he wanted, and he couldn't resist the urge to literally latch onto you with his long limbs. "Mmm... I've missed you so much, sweet stuff. All those papers have been keeping you away from me, trying to steal me... well, guess what? A couple of dead trees have nothing on Satoru Gojo."

"Whatever you say, baby," you giggled into his chest. You simply sat there and let him do as he pleased, whether it be sniff your shampoo or give you a sweet kiss on the forehead. "Y'know what you said back there about me viewing you as a loser?"

He pulled back and looked at you. "Yeah, baby?"

"I just wanted to let you know that... there's nothing you could do that would make me view you as a loser. Even if your job may be boring at times, and even if you can sometimes act like a big baby, there's absolutely zero things that could skew my view of you. And you wanna know why that is?"

He was silent for a little bit before he realized you were asking him a question. "Yeah, I do wanna know."

You kissed him on the forehead, the cheeks & the nose, and then on the lips. "It's not because you're the strongest sorcerer; it's because you're the strongest person I know. You're more resilient than you think you are, at least mentally. You've been through so much in life, and you're still determined to build a better future for the Jujutsu world."

He was at a complete loss for words by what you were saying, the feeling of your hands on his cheeks a comforting warmth for him. "I... I don't even know what to say," Gojo's whispered, his voice cracking slightly.

You quickly realized that you might've gone a little overboard with the praises, and you let go of his face. "Shit, I'm sorry--I didn't upset you or anything, right?"

He put your hands back on his face and shook his head. "'s fine, I just didn't know where that came from, y'know? You started telling me how amazing I was out of nowhere."

Your smile softened and you pressed a kiss to his forehead. "I can't resist the urge to do so, y'know. You're just so amazing."

His shocked expression turned into a smile of his own, and he relaxed into your grip. "You're amazing too, baby. You don't view me as the strongest because of my power or my ability; you see past all that and you see the real me. And for that, I'm always gonna be the best and strongest boyfriend I can possibly be."

"That's what I like to hear, baby. Even if you're already the strongest, I'm gonna push you to be even stronger." You let him pull you in for a hug, and he enveloped you in his arms again.

"Did I ever tell you how amazing you are, (Y/N)? Because you deserve to hear it."

"You did, but you can always keep telling me, Satoru."

"Well, you're fucking incredible, sweets. If I ever forget to tell you of that, please just slap me on the face so I can be reminded."

"I'm not a fan of violence--at least not against my loved ones, but, if you say so!" The two of you giggled and he pressed another kiss to your forehead.

"God, I love you. I seriously don't know where I'd be without you."

"Don't try to imagine it; just let yourself bask in the reality of your situation, 'kay?"

He nodded decisively and turned his focus back to you and your guys's current reality. "Why don't we make our reality a little bit sweeter and... relax on something much softer?"

By the time he asked you that, he'd already scooped you up bridal style and was carrying you into the bedroom. "Give a girl a moment to decide!"

"You were gonna say 'yes' anyway."

"You've got that right," you muttered before being plopped down onto the comforter. He then laid down next to you & wrapped his lanky arms, and legs, around your frame. Within only seconds, you were stuck in a prison made entirely of his limbs. "Are you sure this is comfortable for the both of us, or is it just comfy for you?"

"You don't want my cuddles?" he asked you into your hair.

"No, I do! I just don't wanna be imprisoned by you," you said into his chest.

"Fine, fine," he relented, untangling himself from you. He still kept his arms on you, though, and he refused to let go. The two of you were finally able to relax & bask in one another's presence, and it was a welcome reward for the long day of work.

"You wanna take a shower?-" When you looked up from where you laid, your boyfriend had already fallen asleep. His handsome face looked finally at peace, and you couldn't help but smile at him. "It's too bad I need to take a shower," you said under your breath, somehow able to disentangle yourself from his prison of cuddles.

"Don't go... need you here..." he said in his sleep, instinctively reaching out for you.

"I need to take a shower first, Satoru. And, while we're at it, you should probably change into some pajamas." Before you left the room to go shower, you peeled his jacket, work pants & undershirt, somehow getting him to make it easier for you. Then, you put on the matching set that the two of you had saw while surfing through the internet. "There we go. Isn't that much better?"

"Mm..." he mumbled into the pillow.

"I'll take that as a yes," you giggled softly. You pressed a soft kiss to his forehead before making your way out of the room to take that much needed shower.

When you returned from the bathroom with your hair washed & dried, you saw that he'd sunk even further into his little haven of pillows. You walked closer to him, a soft smile gracing your features once more, and you crawled into bed again.

"Hey, Toru," you murmured softly. "Did you miss me?"

"Too much..." he mumbled into the pillow. "Was waiting for you... can't sleep without you... y'know?"

"I know you can't," you giggled fondly. "Don't worry, though; I'm back, and I ain't going anywhere."

"Good... now, c'mere," he said, closing his eyes fully and pulling you into his warm embrace. He was warmer than any Kotatsu table that money could buy, sweeter than any kikufuku out there, and more amazing than Christian Dior.

Quite possibly the best part about sleeping next to Satoru was getting to see him at his most tranquil. You knew that he trusted you wholeheartedly, that he'd only ever open himself up fully to you. He entrusted you with his heart and soul, and you vowed to never let either one of those precious things get hurt. In reality, you were probably the only person who could hurt them in any capacity.

Satoru Gojo looked like an angel when he slept, with his snow white hair falling on the pillow and over his eyes, and the handsomest face you'd ever seen. Finally, after taking a good look at his face, you closed your eyes and cuddled closer to him.

"So ethereal when you're at peace."

╰┈➤ The job of a Magic Knight Captain wasn't for the weak, and anyone who took up the job knew that good and well. Not only were you expected to be among the strongest Magic Knights out there, but you were also expected to lead a group full of them & ensure their safety, survival, and growth. It was a job that required brains & brawn, leadership & personableness. Magic Knight Captains essentially had to become the parents of whoever they took under their wing, but perhaps no one was better suited for the job than Yami Sukehiro.

Although he was labeled every bad nickname under the sun, and although he was the antithesis of what a Clover Kingdom citizen should've been, acted or even looked like, the Black Bulls were probably the most successful squad in the history of the Kingdom, and that was all in thanks to Captain Yami and a few of his subordinates, but he's too stubborn to admit that.

All of this was to say that the job left him fucking exhausted.

Sure, the Black Bulls were an amazing bunch of "kids;" and sure, they were some of the strongest and valiant mages out there, but they were also extremely hard to rein in and were tiring to deal with on their own. Throw them into one building and make 'em live with one another? Now, that's enough to send any man into early retirement.

Then again, Yami wasn't just any man--but he was still a man at the end of the day. A man who, despite his preachings about "surpassing your limits," had his own limits with his squad.

Magna and Luck were giving him the worst possible headache with all of their "sparring." The sparring, in question, was happening inside, late at night, when everyone was supposed to be relaxing.

It didn't help that Asta was busy screaming on his own, and it also really didn't help that Noelle was screaming at him.

It didn't help that Gauche wouldn't shut up about Marie;

It didn't help that Gordon kept making those creepy dolls;

It didn't help that Vanessa wouldn't stop offering people drinks;

None of them were HELPING!

"Can all of you just SHUT UP ALREADY?!" Captain Yami's voice boomed from where he sat. "A man tries to get some much needed rest, and he can't do that because all of you won't stop causing a ruckus! Can't you fight outside like normal people?!"

"But, it's nighttime-"

"YEAH, IT IS NIGHTTIME--SO THAT MEANS ALL OF YOU SHOULD COOL IT DOWN A LITTLE BIT!" he shouted at whoever was trying to talk back to him. He stood up, crushing his cigarette underneath his boot, and stomped out of the room without another word.

It seemed as though he was having a terribly exhausting day, and it wasn't until he literally screamed at everyone that he finally got some pace and quiet. He hated screaming at them like that, but he had reached his limit a while ago. Luckily, for his sake and the rest of the Bulls' sake, his ever-present and perceptive girlfriend, you, knew just how to calm him down.

"Is she seriously going to his room? I get that they're dating and all, but-"

"Noelle, if you want us to live another day, then just let her do her thing."

You ignored whatever Noelle and Vanessa were saying and headed down the hall to where you knew Yami was. The base was always changing in where its rooms were, but you knew exactly where Yami headed off to; nobody could sense his Ki like you could. You tried to keep the sound of your heels hitting the cobblestone floor to a minimum, but there was only so much you could do to prevent them.

When you finally reached his room, you knocked on the door to signal your arrival, and you opened the door. "Who the hell is it?" he asked from over his shoulder.

"It's your girlfriend," you replied. You didn't miss the way his tense shoulders immediately fell when he realized it was you, and you watched as he let out a sigh.

"Why're you here? Weren't you busy reading a book to catch up on your magic studies or whatever?"

"That stuff can wait; my boyfriend's temper can't, though." You locked the door behind you and took slow, careful steps to where Yami was hunched over on the edge of his bed, and you put one hand on his boulder-like shoulder. "You're tense," you remarked.

"Thought it was easy to tell," he huffed.

"Tenser than usual, Suke." The sweet nickname you gave him after he told you you could use his first name never failed to butter him up. "You must've had a really rough day, huh? Rougher than usual?"

"You've got no fucking idea, princess." After your hand worked its magic on his tense shoulder, he pulled you in by your waist and sat you on his lap. "C'mere, I wanna feel you against me," he muttered into your shoulder.

"Anything you need, I'll do for you," you reassured him. Your hand went up to his hair and you started lightly massaging & scratching his scalp, making him sigh into your embrace. His arms tightened around you to secure you to him, then loosened a little to let you breathe. "One of my favorite things in the world is the feeling of your arms around me, Suke."

"Really?" he asked, now looking up at you.

"It sure is," you said with a nod of affirmation. "You touching me in general, it never fails to make me happy."

"I'm glad I do that for you, then." A tiny smile started worming its way to his tense features, and you gave him an even bigger smile. "Hey, princess--are you a witch or something?"

Now, this question made you cock your brow in confusion. "No, not really; I wasn't exactly born in the Witches' Forest."

"You must be, because the way your touch melts me has gotta be some sorta black magic. I mean, seriously--did Vanessa teach you a spell for relaxation?"

"She didn't exactly teach me a spell, per se; she didn't teach me anything about magic. I taught that relaxation spell to myself."

"'N how'd you do that?"

"By devoting some of my time to learning what makes my boyfriend tick or relax," you giggled, making him shake his head in disbelief.

"Really, now? Well, it's working wonders on me, I must say..." he let his words trail off before planting a kiss on the exposed skin of your chest, closing his eyes & inhaling the scent of your sweet vanilla & almond perfume. "I don't deserve you, baby--I really don't," he whispered into your chest.

"'Course you do, Suke, don't be ridiculous," you scoffed. "You earned me by being an extra caring and affectionate man to me. Why wouldn't I have fallen for you? You earned my affections all on your own."

He pressed another kiss to your chest before looking up at you. "Would you say I surpassed my limits in doing so?"

You snickered at his little question. "You and your limits... yeah, you did: you surpassed your limits, and it earned you my affections."

"Damn straight, I did." He suddenly grabbed you and fell back onto the bed, making you yelp in surprise. In just the blink of an eye, you were now hovering over him, your silky hair falling onto his muscles and tickling him slightly.

"Suke, what do you think you're doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm cuddling my woman." He rolled you around until he was overtop of you, and he shot you a confident grin. "You sayin' you don't want me to?"

"Of course I do!"

"Then lemme cuddle." He silenced any further protests by pressing his lips to yours, savoring the honey sweet taste of your lips. "Mmm... just what a man needs to calm down..." He let his hands go up your shirt and he rubbed your sides gently, tracing circles on it. Suddenly, his exhaustion kicked in, and he got a slight cramp in his arm, making him buckle and fall to the side. "Shit," he hissed in pain.

"Suke, what's wrong? Are you hurt suddenly?" you looked at him with mild panic, wondering why he suddenly gave out.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, I just got a little cramp. Gimme a sec, and I'll- fuck," the pain resurged, and he clutched his shoulder in pain. "It's worse now..."

You sat up and crawled closer to him, putting him on his back. You looked at the place where his arm cramped, and you touched it gently. "Princess, don't do that, it'll hurt-" he suddenly felt all the pain leave his arm, and he looked at you in amazement. "How did you...?"

You shrugged. "I just pressed a little hard and let your muscles relax. I didn't really give it a second thought."

He looked at his arm and then at you again. "Yeah, scratch that; I really don't deserve you."

"Suke!" you chided him, making him laugh. "Hmm... it must've been from all that stress and tension you've been under--I can feel it all throughout your body. Even when you were kissing me, I could feel your muscles tense."

"Really?" he looked at his arm, then at the rest of his body. He sighed, conceding to your observations. "I guess you're right... I've been so focused on surpassing my limits, I didn't give myself a break."

"Normally, I'd applaud your efforts; but I don't like seeing you in pain because of them." You looked off to the side for a bit, wondering what you could do to make him feel any better. "I know! Since my hands are so good at getting rid of your stress and anxiety, why don't I give you a nice massage?"

"A massage? What, you'd really give this ol' brute a rub and a tug?"

"Well, don't call it that! That sounds kinda weird... Suke, it'll just be a good old fashioned massage--nothing more, nothing less. I don't want you to cramp up again, and I certainly don't wanna see you in any pain. So roll over, big boy, because I'm gonna make you feel heavenly."

"Did you really have to do all of this stuff, princess?" Yami asked as he laid down on the makeshift massage table that you'd set up in the middle of the room. He was currently lying almost completely naked on it (save for the towel covering his penis) with his arms folded behind his head.

"Be quiet and let me take care of you," you quipped, grabbing the massage oils and rubbing your hands with them. You looked over at Yami, your eyes trailing down his muscular body shamelessly.

"Are you gonna do that or just stand there and ogle me?" he asked again, this time with a cocky half-smile.

"Y'know, you really shouldn't be mean to your masseuse." You reached for his arm and unfolded it, and you began with his shoulder. "I could pull you any which way I want, make you cramp even harder."

"Please don't do that," he said, a bit panicked.

You giggled and started massaging his big shoulders & delts. "I'm just messing with you, Suke; I wouldn't wanna injure my captain anymore than he already is."

As your hand started making its way down his chiseled arm, he couldn't stop the grunts of satisfaction that escaped his lips. "Fuck, princess... that feels so good..."

"Why, thank you, handsome." You continued to massage his entire arm until you got to his hand, and you even massaged his fingers. Within just a few short minutes & touches, his arm was already feeling quite at ease.

The more you massaged him, the more grunts & groans & even whimpers that he let out. You missed not a single spot on his body, from his chiseled abs to his calves. "Fuuuuck, princess," he groaned especially deeply into the pillow, "keep it up... goddamn--your hands are a godsend."

He wasn't the only one who was deriving satisfaction from this massage; you got to touch and feel every single muscle on your boyfriend's impressive body, and that alone was enough payment. He truly had some amazing muscles, possibly the best in all of Clover. 'His biceps are bigger than my head... and his thighs are so thick--I bet he could crush a watermelon with them!' you giggled to yourself.

"Is there something funny?"

"No, not at all." You turned him on his belly, and that was when the real fun began. Pecs and abs were some amazing muscles, yes, but the back was where the glory laid. His back muscles, although quite tensed, were nothing short of incredible! He had such a wide, tapered back, and each inch of it was covered in thick muscles that he'd acquired over the years. 'I know I'm dating the man, but seeing his back never gets old!'

"Heh, like what you see, princess?" he asked from over his shoulder. He knew that you were ogling his back right now, and that little piece of satisfaction, of knowing that his girl was a huge fan of his muscles gave him all the confidence he'd need for the week.

"Yeah, I do." Your hand sunk into his upper back and started steamrolling all the kinks and tension out of his muscles, and it was like going to heaven. The upper back was where a lot of tension was held in the human body...

And yet, despite all that tension accumulated, you still got rid of it just like that.

"Fuckkk... fuck, fuck, fuck- fucking, fuck!" he laughed into his pillow, feeling like a new man already.

"Wow, am I really that good?"

"Do I even have to answer that?"

You giggled in response and instead continued on the man's back. Once the big knots were out of his body, you went to his traps, his triceps--even his butt--the backs of his thighs, as well as his calves. Not a single spot was missed by your watchful eye, and not a shred of stress remained in the man. Not only that, but he was also soft and smooth from the massage oils.

"And... there we go! Should all be done. Is there anything I missed?" you asked as he sat up.

"Nah, you didn't miss a thing, princess." He reached out and pulled you in by the shoulders, pressing a deep kiss to your forehead. "I know I don't hand out praise often, but you're my girlfriend, and you did this for me without any strings attached."

"Is someone finally saying thank you?" you giggled.

"Be quiet before I change my mind, brat. Anyway, thanks for that. It meant a lot to me that you were willing to take such good care of my body."

"Suke, someone had to do it. Your body were practically screaming in agony--I could sense your Ki from a good distance away. You snapping at everyone only solidified that notion."

"Shit, about that..." he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "You think they'll mind?"

"Nah; they'll understand, Suke. You were under a lot of stress. If anything, you deserved it, especially since they just wouldn't shut up," you said, making him laugh.

"I knew you'd take my side."

"I usually do," you sighed, retracting from his arm.

"Hey, where are you going?" he asked suddenly. You turned around, only to see him reaching out for you. "I wanted to cuddle with you..."

"We can cuddle when you're not all oily and naked," you scoffed, throwing him a towel. He dried himself off, then you threw a change of clothes at him, and changed into some yourself.

"But I thought you liked seeing me naked?"

"There's a time and place for everything, Suke." After putting all of that stuff on and brushing out your hair, you eagerly jumped into your boyfriend's bed and arms.

"Now, this is more like it," he said as he pulled you in for some much needed cuddles. "I'm all relaxed and ready for bed with my beautiful girlfriend in my arms. What more could a man need?"

"Maybe some sleep?" you asked, making him dig his knuckle into your head. The two of you blew out the lamp, and he snuggled up to you, his arms & legs entangled with yours.

"I appreciate everything that you do for me, (Y/N)," he murmured into your ear. You knew it was serious when he used your first name & not his "princess" pet name.

"I appreciate that you appreciate my efforts," you hummed, looking at him. The Yami that everyone else knew and the Sukehiro that you knew were like two completely different people. Yami was the fierce warrior, proud of where he came from; and Sukehiro was the gentle giant who treated you with the utmost care. He looked at you like you were the sun and he was the crop who needed your sunshine. If he ever lost you, then there'd be hell to pay for whoever was involved.

"I'll always appreciate everything you do for me, princess, even if it's something as simple as cuddling up to me." He closed his eyes and allowed himself to finally relax, hugging your smaller frame tightly. "Goodnight, princess."

"Goodnight, Sukehiro."

© ʙʀᴜɴᴇᴛᴛᴇ-ʙɪᴛᴄʜ77 on tumblr - get your own shit bitches | ca. 7/2/2024

HELP WHY WAS TOJI'S 3.7K WORDS also I'm editing this later, I just wanted to get the first draft out since this took FOREVER to write

[kyokutsu-sama]

Flashy night

Uzui Tengen x f! Reader x wifes

A/n: Just a flashy scenario for a flashy man. I'm thinking about writing Kyojuro's pov and posting it later🤔

Tw: Slightly suggestive

••☆••☆••☆••☆••☆••☆••☆••☆••☆••☆••

"Tengen, I think you better go home man. Your wives must be waiting for you!" Rengoku shouted in the middle of the street due to the noise of the people and the music.

The two friends had planned to go to the entertainment district because of a festival Tengen had mentioned. Rengoku never refused to go anywhere with his best friend, especially if it promised lots of fun and food. They had gone in completely sober and were now completely drunk and barely knew their way back.

"Yeah, I know. My wives love me and everyone knows it!" Tengen said, holding his drink as he danced. He really was an exhibitionist.

"Yes, but if we don't get back soon, you'll end up sleeping on the couch." Rengoku joked, trying to drag his friend out of the crowd. They were now leaning on each other and walking like blind people in the middle of a shootout.

"Now that's not true! They would never do that to me," Tengen said, laughing."They love me, believe me..."

*Meanwhile, at Tengen's house*

"Tengen hasn't come back yet?" Makio asked, arriving in the living room and seeing you sitting on the couch, waiting for Tengen to come home. "Where the hell did he get himself to again? I hope he doesn't have to face a demon on the way."

"It was a possibility... If I didn't know he went out to go to another one of those flashy festivals he likes so much."

"And he didn't even take us with him. Just left us here alone and bored." Makio said, pouting and holding some resentment for his action

"He said he was going with a great friend of his."

"Probably that one who talks really loud, the hashira of the flames... I don't remember his name." She said, looking at the ceiling, trying to remember the name

"Rengoku?" You said, and she nodded

"Yeah, that one! They get along very well."

"I believe he should be arriving soon. I mean, it's almost three in the morning." You said looking at the clock on the wall

"Typical of Master Tengen. He never arrives at the time he says will. Suma and Hinatsuru must be fast asleep by now, and getting Suma to sleep after she found out Tengen went without us was no easy task. That idiot almost cried her eyes out." Makio rolled her eyes, remembering the scene

"Suma is always sensitive..." You said with a giggle. "What about you? Aren't you going to sleep?"

"I just came to see how you were since you were the only one who wasn't sleeping yet, but if you're going to stay there waiting for him, that's fine. I'm going to the bed, good night." Makio said, hugging you and getting up afterwards

"Sleep well."

"Yeah, and be sure to kick Tengen's drunk ass when he gets here!" She shouted from the end of the hallway and you chuckled

"I will!"

You stood there for a while until you heard the front door open and saw the big man stumble on his own steps and almost fall to the floor while laughing out loud. You knew at that moment who it was. You got up from the couch and walked to the entrace hall with your arms crossed as you saw him waving to his friend who was already going home.

"Have a great night my great buddie Rengoku!!"He shout before closing the door

When he turned around and saw you behind him, his smile widened and you were almost blinded by the glow he exuded at that moment. The drunkenness made him hotter than usual but you didn't want to let your guard down at that moment. And you definitely wouldn't.

"Look who's here waiting for me! I'm sorry for leaving my princess alone but since I'm here I think I should make up for my absence..." He said in a seductive voice, approaching and covering your figure with all his tall and wide stature. Oh, he was really stepping over the borders...

His white hair was loose and disheveled, there were a few messy strands on his face, his cheeks were pink from the alcohol and the heat. He was wearing a yukata that was open and exposing his chest. You could bet he was doing it on purpose to tease you.

"Why don't we go upstairs and 'talk' a little about my late arrival?" He whispered in your ear with a little giggle and distributing a few kisses on your neck but you just rolled your eyes and sighed. It was difficult because he really was driving you crazy.

"Makio, Hinatsuru and Suma have been asleep for a while now and I don't want to bother them and besides, Makio herself told me to kick your drunk ass, so..." You said and the hashira laughed

"My dear Makio is cold, but I like her. What about you? Are you really going to kick your husband's drunk and flashy ass?" He said holding your face with both hands

"You deserved it, you know? It's just that you left and came back late and as if that wasn't enough, you didn't take your lovely wives with you."

"I already apologized! Come on, why don't we settle things amicably, my love?" He leaned his forehead against yours, which made things even more difficult for you, who were trying not to give in

"Tengen, don't insist. You're drunk and I'm sleepy." You said, trying to get away from him, who at that moment knelt in front of you looking like a clingy, whiny boy.

"You're not being flashy, Y/n. Why don't you give me a little chance. Please, five minutes! We don't even need to go to the bedroom..." Uzui insisted again, holding the hem of your shorts, but you slapped his hands away and walked away from him

"Damn, Uzui! You're stubborn when you're drunk. Jeez!" You said, and he was silent for a moment while he massaged the hand you slapped, but still with a smile on his face and his eyes shining at you. "And don't make those puppy dog ​​eyes at me. Let's just go to sleep, it's too late." You ordered

Tengen got up from the floor and let out a long sigh, seeing that he couldn't be more stubborn than his wife who was in front of him. However, his ego didn't allow you to have the last word.

Tengen got closer to your ear and bent down a little, which made you feel chills.

"Alright, you win. But one thing is for certainly, I'll deal with you tomorrow. Just you wait!" He slapped your butt and ran to the bedroom while laughing and you felt your cheeks burn with shame.

He really could drive everyone crazy.

"Tengen, you son of a-- Come back here now!" You said, running after him

[oneshlut]

SORRY! i originally asked on the wrong post! My bad!

Hello!!!! I have no idea if this is the right post for requests, but i reqd your overjoyed headcanon and absolutely adored it! I love your writing style already! I originally had two requests, but for now ill go with one, with the Amazing Didgital cricus blowing up, i found favoritizim in the mean purple rabbit, i was wondering for some Jax crush headcanons? I loved your other one, and if its no trouble, id love to read it! Have a lovely day/night!!

A/N: omgomg!! it warms my heart hearing that people are enjoying my writing! thank you so much for the request, i hope you don't mind that i sprinkled in some confessing headcanons in there.. enjoyenjoy!!

Input Feelings (Jax x Reader) [Headcanons]

Rules For Requesting

Characters I Will Write For

Masterlist

Summary: General Jax crushing and confessing headcanons

Nothing irritates Jax more than someone new. Sure, a new fella to add to the prank list, and yet, another re-do of the theme song. So seeing you spawn into existence, scrambling around fearfully, made him feel both amused and annoyed. Let's just say he started out with mixed feelings for you. Mind you, these are just judgements. He hasn't even met you yet. Rude, I know, but it's Jax.

Meeting you went way better than he thought! You actually didn't find him annoying? That was a change of pace for him. Of course, not like he minded. Not at all! Looks like he'll have a new sucker to prank after all.

Although Jax was amused by you, you sure weren't. Not on the second day, at least. You had been talking with him earlier that day, and he wouldn't shut up about insects. Weird, you'd think of all people to be ranting about insects, it would be Kinger. Until later that night, or at least you thought it was night, you opened your door to find spiders in your bed.

And thus, you became Jax's main target for pranking! Hooray..! Yes, you liked his company--he was actually pretty fun to be around! But, uh, you prefer your outfit to not be soaked from a water bucket by the end of the day.

You two became frenemies. Sometimes, days went by where he wouldn't prank you. Shocking, I know. Jax just didn't wanna be too harsh on you, y'know? Which is weird, because Jax doesn't go easy on folks very often.

On days where he wouldn't prank you, you would sometimes receive notes from him. It was a good spirit lifter to go to your room at the end of a long adventure and see the corniest dad joke ever written on a piece of notepaper with crayon writing, sitting there on your bedside table. And on good days, you'd even write notes back for him!

One day, Jax gets either asked or teased about how he's so fond with you, and so rude to everyone else. He either makes some dumb excuse or tries to raise suspicion on the person asking, like the asshole he is, but it gets him thinking. He doesn't like to think. He's a man of action. But you were a.. different scenario.

Before, he was this complete asshole. And that's it, really. But you did something to him, something that he had no idea what to do with. Caine's gotta be messing with his coding, right? Maybe he input feeings in his code just to be mean. But being mean was his thing! God, what have you done to him..?

You, at the time, had no idea you were stripping away all of his confidence. As far as you knew, he has just been a bit nicer recently. Which was good! Right? Right. The notes would've been obvious proof he was getting better. Well, first, he was sending more notes rather than.. bugs.. but second, the notes started getting nicer and nicer. Some were just straight up compliments. That's when you noticed something was off. Jax never complimented anyone. Though, you didn't mind some of the compliments...

It's not like Jax has never been in love. He knows he had some sort of love life when he was in the real world, but he was left with just wisps of what it actually felt like to love someone. To care for someone. Though, now, he's finally able to remember.

You noticed how his teasing significantly decreased the more you spent time with him. You kinda missed it, but you're not one to complain.

Jax, on the other hand, was on edge all the time around you. He hated that you washed away his confidence facade, he hated how soft he was around you, how vulnerable. But that smug smirk wasn't gone just yet. He had one more "prank" to pull.

Ha, he wishes it was a prank. It really wasn't. This was actually the most serious he's ever been. He stared at the crudely drawn purple heart on a piece of scratch paper, only now doubting everything he's ever done as butterflies arose in his digital stomach. Standing outside your door, he suddenly felt all the nerves coming back to him he never thought he'd have to feel again. Jax swallowed down his nerves, but still couldn't hide the flush look on his face--or the fact that his pretend-guts were being tied into a bow.

Inside the small homemade card was an admittance to something he never thought he had to admit. Something he'd rather admit in person. Instead, since every inch of his confidence was gone at this point, he confessed in horrible handwriting, written with crayola twistables.

Jax took one final breath before sliding the heart under your door.

[mandaplease10]

A Polin Take Nobody Asked For #5

*Penelope & Colin Aren't Friends*

Once again, there are complaints about how Pen & Colin were never actually friends because we never see them be friends. We're simply only told they are friends and now we're supposed to believe Colin loves her after saying he would never court.

Well, I am here to tell you why that is wrong. Oh and someone on twitter claimed this season has no narrative... like are we watching the same show??

FYI this is a long post!

Season 1:

Colin dances with Penelope after Cressida spills a drink on her. Even before this, he sought her out to have a conversation with her.

There are several times we see Colin and Penelope speaking at balls or gatherings.

Penelope tries to tell him about Marina and he is grateful for her friendship and care, but he doesn't listen to her because he thinks he knows Marina. Yet, he still took the time to hear her out for the most part.

Once Marina's secret is revealed, Colin apologizes to Pen and recognizes she was just trying to look out for him.

Colin goes traveling the first time because of Pen inspiring him to do so.

Colin singing in the drawing room and lowers his voice/stars at Pen when she walks in.

Season 2:

Their letters - This is a huge element to their friendship and their storyline. Honestly, I would love to have seen what their letters entailed over the years. Maybe one day we'll have a scene of them going through their old letters or something.

Colin's arrival - hello! That look he gives her when he sees her there in the drawing room after greeting his family. I believe had Hyacinth and Gregory not rushed him and Anthony didn't walk in to go to the races, he would have walked over and said something to her.

At the races- he sees Pen and walks over to her. He initiates the conversation and talks about their letters until Eloise ruins the moment.

Another moment he initiates a conversation is when Pen assumes he met someone on his travels and he talks about how he 'found himself' thanks to her letters.

Lady Crane was right about you - He knows that Pen cares for him and is special in his life and the fact that someone else saw that made him open his eyes a little more.

Defending the Featheringtons - Colin stood up to his friend Will when he said something negative about Pen's family and then again when he realized Jack was scheming around.

You are special to me. I will always look out for you - HELLO! Yes, Colin has a hero complex, but he doesn't do this for everyone! He doesn't seek out to help Cressida or other women of TON, but he risked standing up to a "Lord" to save Pen's family from ruin.

You are Pen. You are my friend - Colin literally calls her his friend and holds her above just another woman. Yes, in this moment she was sort of friend zoned, but the fact he still wanted her in his life, means something.

"I would never court Penelope Featherington" - Yes, this was not a good look, but this was also Colin trying to put on a facade in front of the gentleman. Plus, I also believe that in his state of mind, what he was doing and how he is around Pen, is just how they are together, yet in other's eyes, it was very much courting action.

Season 3:

His arrival - Immediately looks for Pen and when he doesn't see her, looks towards her house confused as to why she isn't present.

The Gardens - Smiles when he sees her and is eager to talk to her, upset when she cuts their conversation short.

The ball - Stares at her and watches her from afar and rushes after her when he sees her in distress.

Goodnight Mr. Bridgerton - Tries to joke around with her and have a friendly conversation, but realizes something is wrong. Feels horrid when he realizes why she is upset with him and wants to talk it out, gets upset when she leaves.

The Featherington Garden - Again, he seeks her out because he wants to make things right with her. THIS ENTIRE SCENE IS PRACTICALLY A WHY YOU ARE SPECIAL AND MORE THAN A FRIEND TO ME DECLARATION. If you actually watch this entire scene, you will see that there is genuine friendship and love there.

The Meet Cute - Seriously, the fact that HE remembers how they met AND he was the one who brought it up, says A LOT.

The Drawing Room - He listened to her and brought her to a place that makes her comfortable. He even made sure it was during a time when they would be alone. Also, it is obvious he feels something during the touch of hands and her attempt at flirting with him.

The Ball - They have yet another conversation amongst the two of them and he encourages her to talk to someone. Then they have a laugh. A genuine laugh, one that she never really had with Debling later on... Then we have the little bouts of jealous Colin when she's speaking to Lord Remington. Then how angry he gets when the word gets out about him and Pen and how he rushes after her in worry.

The First Kiss - Once again, Colin is seeking her out... in the middle of the night... bribing her maid for alone time. Like... not just anyone does that. Colin only had to do the one kiss. The one peck because that was all Pen asked for, but guess what? He went in for another one and would have kissed her again if she didn't leave. We can tell on his face, that he felt something he never felt before.

The Dream - Most people don't have romantic dreams about their friends unless there are feelings there.

The Willow Tree - The awkwardness is everything and pure friends to lovers.

I could continue the rest of their moments, but I'm not going to because so many of the same people keep saying the only reason Colin wanted Pen is because of Debling, well guess what everything that I listed above is PRE DEBLING. Yes, there is that moment in episode 1, but it isn't until episode 3 when Debling actively tries to pursue Pen and vice versa.

So, yeah, Polin haters can keep complaining and trying to make excuses as to why they dislike the season, but the receipts are the there to debunk those claims.

[blueaetherr]

welcome to eden

pairing: trent alexander-arnold x fem!reader [she/her]

warnings(s): none

summary: the one where trent recounts his journey to discover eden

author's note: something small to get me back into writing again

now playing: she's mine pt. 1 by j. cole

With the day slowly fading into the night, people retiring inside, both parties equally wanting to rest and repair for the following day—the day had come to an end, simple and peaceful. Quiet too, only minimal and distant noise interrupting the silence of the early night. Despite this, activities both calm and loud continued within one's walls.

As for Trent and Y/N, they had opted for both. Loud activity—that leftover piece of cake on the kitchen counter, the game controller stuck and forgotten in the folds of the couch, the music speaker misplaced in the garden, the UNO cards left on the coffee table. It all remained scattered across their shared home as remnants, now existing as cherished memories to discuss in later years. 

Calm activity, they saved for the end of the day. Something as simple and uncomplicated as laying in bed together, feeling the wind touch up against exposed skin, acknowledging one another's presence through straying touches, tangled limbs and soothing breaths. How they finished their day would be how they would, too, start their day in the coming hours. 

Adjusting her position Y/N exhaled, saying, "Tell me something I'd like to hear." Her voice came out as a whisper, small and slightly muffled against Trent's chest, like she was shy and scared to speak. But in truth, it was simple; she wanted to hear Trent speak. To hear him lift up his voice and pronounce words the way that he did so perfectly every time, something Y/N felt like she would never get over.

Asking to hear Trent's words and voice wasn't anything out of the ordinary. In fact, it was habitual and familiar to their relationship. In times when they wanted to sleep but couldn't, when they wanted to relax and falter a bit after a taxing day, when they wanted to bring about a sense of calm in a moment of chaos—whether in person or over the phone—Y/N would request Trent's words. 

Tell me a story. Tell me about your day today, honey. How did you find the movie? From the hypotheticals to the yes or no wonders of life itself. Anything and everything was on the table and Trent would, of course, always say yes to her requests. 

Normally, if Trent was given free rein about what he could discuss with his partner, he would have to think for a moment, always looking to capture the perfect exchange of words. This time, however, he found no need to wander his mind for thoughts. "You weren't the first person I ever fell for."

"Oh wow, wow, wow." In any other situation where Y/N had the energy, she would've reacted more to his opening statement. Perhaps a questioning look or a warning yet joking pinch to the chest. Instead, she remained inert in Trent's arms and expressed in a neutral tone, "I feel so, so loved right now."

"I didn't mean it like that, obviously," Trent laughed a bit, his laughter bouncing off the walls. Even with the neutral tone, he could hear the dramatic undertone behind it. "You gotta hear everything I have to say and then make up your mind about how you feel."

"And how do you think I'll be feeling post-explanation?" A fooling curiosity settled behind her voice. Will it be worth it to listen to your words? After all, she did request something she would like to hear.

Tilting his head to look towards the window, Trent noticed the shining light rising into the night sky. "Over the moon and beyond."

Humming, Y/N nodded against his chest and relaxed further into his embrace. Big expectations to meet. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to hear him out. "Let's hear it."

"Well you already know I've had a few girlfriends before you, and it was with my previous girlfriend where I personally felt like I fell in love for the first time. Everything was good, great if you want to go that far. She was the one partner I was always going to my friends and family to talk about. I loved it because she made it so easy; I was happy and she made me happy, and I thought that was more than enough for me to be content with the relationship."

She shifted away from Trent's chest– the distance quite small though not enough to prevent body contact– so she could face him well. "Sounds like you were in Eden," Y/N shaking her head slightly, feigning disappointment. She couldn't allow Trent to get through his story without bringing some cause for laughter to the conversation.

"Just like me get to it. I promise it gets better," Trent huffed out a small laugh, and Y/N soon followed suit. An instant of delight under the night sky. 

Soon laughter fell short into silence and Trent continued, "Anyways, eventually she ended up breaking up with me and I was heartbroken. I was confused and devastated. Everything always felt right to me so I didn't know where it went wrong. I thought she was the one and only, my one and only. I'd fallen, like, pretty hard and I didn't think I would again after that. I found everything in her. She was everything to me. It doesn't get better than that," he exhaled, his eyes drifting randomly around the room, "I mean it shouldn't get better than that."

"But then I met you," Smiling, his gaze returned to his partner, fondness soon collecting in his eyes, "... and I quickly discovered that I was so, so wrong."

"Where she was giving me happiness, you're giving me happiness and more. Where she was giving me joy, you're giving me joy and more. Where she was giving me peace, love, content— you know what? Let me not ramble before I'm just listing everything great about you." Noticing her smile wobble a bit, he took hold of her hand and kissed the back of it. A request to comfort and ease her mind. Against her hand, Trent spoke with a small voice, "I mean you get what I'm sayin' right?"

Tell me more, keep going, let me know your thoughts– among many things she wanted to say. But she found herself in her feelings, far too deep, so much so that she failed to find her voice. So instead she simply nodded through sniffles and a struggling smile, allowing him to continue.

"So sure she was my first real, honest love. I fell for her first and that's fact—that'll never change. But she could never reach your ankles, honey. 'Cause I fell for you and suddenly, I felt it again but with you. Heck, I still feel it with you, over and over, every single day. I remember how it felt when we first met. I felt it yesterday. I felt it when we were washing the dishes together a few hours ago." Humming, he wiped away the stray tear escaping her eyes. "And I hope to feel that way tomorrow and every day after that."

"I am and have everything and some with you. You give me more than I need; you are quite literally abundance."

In truth, Trent didn't always have the words for everything, often spontaneous and unintentional in his speech. Still, his love language always pointed back to words of affirmation. Forever with pleasure, he would continue to offer Y/N his voice and words of her choosing. 'Cause in his eyes, it was easy to speak for someone you felt so passionately about, someone who you could never seem to pull away from even when you should.

Speaking on this aspect of the relationship made Trent reflect a bit, his mind rekindling recent thoughts. It made him lean back and think wow. He once believed that he had found true paradise in someone else. That she was everything ideal and secure, and Trent would never find himself in want of something else. 

But then there came Y/N, the genuine living proof of everything ideal and secure and more. In the words of Y/N, Trent found Eden in her. She was this person of paradise, harmony, perfection and ultimate beauty. In mind, spirit and body. Someone to appreciate, love and acknowledge at every point in space and time. And in his words, she was someone of abundance. Always ever-giving and forever infinite in her person. Never would he ever lack with Y/N. The primal things—loud activity, calm activity—continued to leave Trent without wants beyond his partner.

"So how did that meet your expectations?"

Y/N strung out a sigh, exhaling those overwhelming sentiments. Some would think Trent was speaking just to speak, to pass time or for the two to fall asleep well, and that was true. But what was also true was that Trent found delight and happiness in speaking on this subject, speaking about how, actually, Y/N was his one and only. How she was everything—how she gave him everything and more. Yet all she ever asked for in return were his words and speech. 

So here were his words, a mellow proclamation of love and affection, and like every other time it left Y/N joyfully devastated.

The soft breeze in the room shifted her attention towards the opened window for a moment. Soon, she noticed the moon, now high in the sky daintily shining into the bedroom. She hung her head back as she let a small chuckle through her tears. "I'm over the moon and beyond."

[bad268]

My Champion (Ollie Bearman X Hauger! Reader)

Fandom: RPF/Formula 2/3

Requested: Yee @arshiyuh (thank you for being patient <3)

Warnings: none.

Pronouns: None used

W.C. 1710

Summary: Follow Y/n and Ollie through different race weekends shared moments and unwavering support.

A/n: Inktober is coming up so all requests will be put on hold (doesn't mean I won't work on them, but the soonest I'll post them is probably November)

As always, my requests are OPEN

MASTERLIST // HITLIST

~~(^Google/Sports Illustrated)

Bahrain 2022

It was my first weekend on the track. Despite my brother’s success in Formula 3 last year, I had never had the time or money to travel with him, so this was pretty big for me. He was moved up to Formula 2 this year, so I knew that I wanted to be there to support him

I walked into the crowded garage, looking around to try and find my brother. I felt eyes on my back, so I turned around, trying to find who was looking at me. I made eye contact with a curly-haired brunette who was half hiding behind a wall. Once we made eye contact, he immediately ducked behind the wall, but I was already making my way over to him.

“Hi, can you help me find my brother, Dennis?” I asked after meeting him around the corner before he could go into one of the driver’s rooms.

“Oh, he’s already in the car,” the boy explained, the tension immediately leaving and replaced by slight remorse.

“Dang, the race doesn't start for another hour,” I sighed, “You really get in the cars that early?”

“Yeah, we have to get down to the track super early,” He explained before realizing he didn’t introduce himself. “I’m Ollie by the way.”

“Y/n.”

~~

Silverstone 2022

“Ollie?” I shouted through the Prema garage after the F3 race. “If you don’t answer me, I’ll drink the smoothie that I bought for you!”

That’s all it took for Ollie to come running out of the driver’s room out of breath and half dressed. He smirked and he pointed an accusing finger at me before saying, “I got out of the shower, but I’m not ignoring you.”

“Good, you stunk,” I answered, not acknowledging his shirtless chest. “I didn't actually buy the smoothie yet cause I wanted to see if your debrief was over.”

Clearly, I wasn’t doing a good enough job because Ollie noticed immediately that I was distracted. “Hey, my eyes are up here.” My face immediately heated up, causing him to start laughing.

“Sorry,” I muttered, dropping my head as Ollie pulled on a random Prema polo.

“You’re fine,” He chuckled, placing his hand under my jaw to lift my head. "How about we go get food and smoothies before the F2 race? We can watch it in here while we eat.”

“That sounds an awful lot like you’re asking my sibling on a date, Ollie,” Dennis said as he came into the garage. All Dennis did was point a finger at Ollie as he grabbed his balaclava from the table, “I would lecture you but I’m gonna be late, so all I’m saying is don’t be stupid.” With that, Dennis took off toward the track.

“What just happened?”

~~

Spa 2022

“Ollie, that drive was amazing!” I exclaimed as Ollie came into the Prema garage after collecting his second trophy of the weekend. “Two podiums on the same weekend! I’m so proud of you!”

Ollie suddenly grew shy under my praise as his face became red and he dropped his head with a small smile. “Thank you, Y/n/n.”

“Oh, are you suddenly an Ollie fan now?” Dennis joked, coming out of the driver's room to tease. “You didn’t even congratulate me when I won the championship!”

“You don’t need me to stroke your ego,” I laughed, hitting Dennis’ arm. “You win a lot. This weekend was his first win. Let me be happy for him. Plus, I’ve been an Ollie fan since Silverstone.”

“Just don’t make me hear it. I’m right next to your room,” He teased.

“Not that, Dennis!”

~~ Monza 2022

It was the end of the F3 season dinner before some of the team would be heading home for a few weeks. Ollie got second place in the sprint and feature, and all three Prema cars were in the top five for the feature race. Thus, the team decided a celebration was in order, especially since all three of their F3 drivers were moving up to F2 next season.

Ollie was very picky. It was common knowledge, so it wasn’t surprising when he ordered a basic spaghetti.

“It’s actually really good,” Ollie whined as a couple of the engineers ganged up on him for choosing something so simple when they’re in Italy. “Y/n/n, you try it. It’s completely different from London.”

“Well, of course, it is,” I laughed. “London is London and Italy is Italy. Italy is the land of the pasta for a reason.”

“Just try it,” He groaned, continuing to twirl his fork in the noodles. I signed in mock annoyance before leaning into Ollie’s side as I spun a bunch of noodles on my fork. We both put our forks in our mouths at the same time, and I noticed very quickly that one of our noodles was connected. Ollie seemed to pick it up around the same time, so we both turned our heads to look at each other. We were trying so hard not to laugh as the team started catching on to what we were going to do. We both leaned in, meeting in the middle of the noodle in a short kiss. The guys on the team were very split in their reactions; some were fake gagging and others were whistling.

We pulled apart after our brief display of affection, both of us smiling like crazy. I licked the remaining sauce off my lips with a smirk as Ollie and I just stared at each other, him expecting an answer.

“Spaghetti’s not that bad,” I laughed.

“Not that bad?” He questioned in disbelief. “Do we need to do that again? I think I could convince you.”

~~ Baku 2023

“I don’t think you’ll ever understand how proud I am of you,” I whispered as we were laying in our hotel bed after the feature race. We’d have to catch an early flight, so we just got some smoothies after dinner as a reward and had a movie playing in the background. Ollie laid his head on my chest as I played with his curls while the movie played on. “You made history this weekend, love. I am so incredibly proud of you.”

“If I wasn’t so tired, I would go on about how I wouldn’t be here without you,” he mumbled as he tightened his hold around my torso. “But I appreciate you. So much.”

“Well, you’re lucky I’ll always be here.”

“Oh no, you’re the lucky one,” He joked. “You get to say you’re with the guy who swept the weekend in F2. I don’t see them nicknaming a circuit after you.”

“Because Azer-bear-jan sounds better than Hauger-baijan. I don’t make the rules. I just enforce them.”

“We could debate this all night.”

~~

Abu Dhabi 2023

“You’re forgetting something, Ollie,” I stretched out as Ollie was on his way out of his driver’s room just before the race. He was doing some stretches in his driver’s room to keep warmed up during the red flag due to the amount of debris on the track while I was reading until his engineer came in giving him the 10-minute warning. “You can’t forget it.”

“Oh, right,” he responded, immediately walking up to place a short kiss on my lips. “Happy?”

“I was talking about this,” I gestured to the helmet that still sat on the table behind me, “But that works too, I guess.”

“Oh, that would be helpful. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” he laughed, leaning over to grab the helmet. He started walking out the door but turned around at the last second to come kiss me. He leaned his forehead against mine, saying, “One more for good luck.” He placed one last kiss on my nose before being dragged out by Fred to race.

~~

Bahrain 2024

I had a good feeling this year. It was going to be a good year for Ollie. The first race was off to a great start with Ollie finishing second in the sprint and first in the feature race after starting fifth.

“Ollie, this is your year,” I exclaimed as I walked into the Prema hospitality where Ollie was currently in the shower after his media duties.

“Um, knock?” He laughed as he stuck his head out of the shower to see me sitting on the ground against the door.

“I’m just saying, I got a feeling, baby,” I clarified.

“Any particular reason you felt the need to tell me while I’m in the shower?” He laughed at my antics.

“I couldn’t hold that back. That’s bad luck,” I quipped back. “Plus, I needed you to know now.”

“Glad to know you’ve got my back,” He chuckled as he went back to his shower.

“Always, love,” I responded quickly.

~~

Qatar 2024

He just needed a top 5 finish. That’s all he needed, and he’ll be an F2 champion. Dino would need to win the race, and Ollie would need to place outside of the top five for Dino to challenge him for the title. However, that went out the window as soon as Ollie secured pole and Dino couldn’t start.

“Ollie, you did it!” I shouted through the headset as soon as he crossed the finish line in first place, “You are the F2 Champion!”

“All you, love,” he said back. “This is all for you, Y/n/n.”

“No, this all you. You did the hard work, Ollie,” I cried. “That was an incredible drive! Get in here!”

It didn’t take long for Ollie to pull around into parc ferme into his rightful place and jump out of his car. He stood on top of his car as everyone cheered for him before running and jumping into the sea of Prema. After the engineers gave him pats on the back and he shared a hug with his strategist, he turned his attention to me.

He slowly walked up to stand directly in front of me, allowing me to take his helmet and balaclava off. I could see the tears that filled his eyes, causing my eyes to water as well, as we just smiled at each other for a few seconds. It’s like there was no one else there. 

Just me and my champion.

~~~~~

© BAD268 2023. DO NOT REPOST WITHOUT PERMISSION.

[dont-offend-the-bees]

The Scenic Route

More dead boys! Post-canon, Payneland, pre-slash/getting together-ish, bestieism, bickering, sex talk/innuendo and soppiness. 2k. Enjoy!

Also on Ao3 (need to be signed in to read)

~

"Cheer up, Edwin," said Charles, brightly. "Might never happen."

Edwin gave Charles a look so haughty it had its own title. "It very much has happened, Charles." He sniffed and straightened out his newspaper with attitude, the rustle of it loud and sharp as a whip crack. "I don't see why we couldn't have simply hopped through the mirror and met Crystal there."

"At this point, Edwin, I'm in total fucking agreement," said Crystal, not opening her eyes. She was burrowed under her coat like a blanket, doing her best to make the uncomfortable upright seat look like a cosy bed. Fortunately this train car was basically empty, so she had space to stretch across two seats – and no one close by to comment on the floating newspaper across the table and the fact she was having a barney with it. "You're like, the worst person to travel with."

"He's just not used to taking the scenic route," Charles joked, nudging Edwin's shoulder. "Whole world out there if you look up from the crossword, mate."

"I've already finished the crossword," said Edwin.

"With my help," Crystal pointed out.

"I died in nineteen sixteen. How am I supposed to know which songstress recorded 'Strike Me Once More'?"

"’Hit Me Baby One More Time’," said Charles.

"Atrocious name for a song," Edwin muttered. "I was given to believe violence against women was frowned upon in this day and age. And yet here you are, making popular songs about it."

"It's a metaphor, innit?" said Charles. His brow furrowed. "I think. Haven't heard it."

"We get it. You're both old ," Crystal groaned. "Now shut up, I'm trying to sleep. Some of us still need to do that."

"You would've had more luck in my day," said Edwin, wrinkling his nose in distaste at their surroundings. "Decent benches, private compartments. Of course, travelling without a chaperone might’ve raised issues. I hardly think Charles and I count, given that no one but you can see us."

"And we're lads." Charles winked at her. "Fit, single lads."

Edwin gave him a withering look over his paper. "Yes, that as well." He flipped through to the personal ads, voice dry as a bone. "Lord only knows what tomfoolery we could be getting up to without supervision."

"No offense, Edwin," said Crystal. "But I don't see you and me getting up to 'tomfoolery' no matter what century we're in."

"Hm. Something else we can agree on."

"Well, I'm game," Charles grinned, folding his arms on the table and waggling his eyebrows. "Never done tomfoolery on a train before."

Crystal snorted. "Don't. Not fun. And don't ask me how I know that,” she said, cutting Charles off sharpish before he could quiz her. “Anyway, without Edwin's fancy private compartments your options are the bathroom or risk a sneaky handjob in your seat."

Edwin perked up. "There's that word again. Charles, you never did tell me what it means."

Charles winced. "Didn't I? Um. Right. Basically, yeah, it's when you..." 

"If you're gonna sit here giving grandpa a sex ed class, I am definitely getting up for coffee," Crystal muttered, throwing her coat aside and levering out of her seat. 

"Sure you don't wanna weigh in?" Charles called after her. He fully expected the middle finger she flipped him before stomping off down the aisle.

"So," said Edwin primly, newspaper set down in exhange for his notebook. He was poised and at the ready with his pen in two seconds flat. "Handjobs."

Charles squirmed. "It's not exactly arcane knowledge, mate," he said, struggling to look Edwin in the eye. "It's when you..." he made a strangled noise, and a descriptive hand gesture. "Y'know. For another bloke."

Edwin watched his hand, and realisation dawned. "Ah,"  he said, slowly tucking his book and pen away. "Indeed." He sniffed. "Crude name."

"Well, what would you call it?"

"Well. I haven't an equivalent term for the act as... bequeathed to another, so to speak.”

Charles bit his lip, holding back a grin. Who the fuck else in his life would use bequeathed in normal conversation? In a sex conversation? He crossed his arms before he could do something stupidly soppy and fond, like drop his head onto Edwin's shoulder and ask him to list his favourite words.

Edwin carried right on, oblivious to Charles' little moment. “But my father would've referred to the solo variation as ‘self-abuse’."

Charles snorted. "'Course he would."

"Yes, it was... a different time." He picked up his newspaper with an air of rigid discomfort. "People are certainly much more liberal in that regard nowadays."

"Yeah. Nowadays." Charles watched him closely. He'd always been a buttoned-up sort of chap, but. Since all that stuff in Port Townsend, with Monty and that bloody Cat King he'd... opened up, sort of. Wasn't going out snogging people or reading dirty mags in the office or anything, 'least not as far as Charles knew. But there was a curiosity in him, now. Something in those keen eyes that sparked up, latched onto certain things. All still wrapped up in good old fashioned Edwardian manners, of course, but Charles knew Edwin like the back of his hand – and he knew what his face did when he was interested in something. Just so happened what he'd been interested in lately was, well. Blokes. Some more than others. "You never try it then?" Charles teased. "The old, uh. Self-abuse?"

Edwin couldn't exactly, literally blush on account of being dead, but Charles could spot the signs. "Privacy was hard to come by," he said, carefully measured.

Charles raised his eyebrow. "But not impossible?"

"...No. No, not impossible." He cleared his throat. "Perhaps we should change the subject. Crystal will be returning shortly. Impolite to discuss it in mixed company."

Charles chuckled and sank back in his seat, casting his eyes out the window. The countryside rolled by, arid and golden. "Never been to France before."

"I suppose we haven't had any cases lead us here," said Edwin. "Nor have we had the need to travel through it," he added, voice clipped and curt. "Up until recently , that is."

"Got a right bee in your bonnet about the bloody travelling, haven't you?" said Charles. "C'mon, mate. Not like you and me are short of time, innit? Got all eternity to sit on bloody trains if we want to."

"I can think of better things to do with our time."

"Well – think of Crystal, yeah?" Charles reasoned. "I mean, she's alive. She's got what, eighty years or something left to be alive. How d’you think she feels 'bout having to spend half of it on public fucking transport?"

Edwin sighed. "Being alive was rather inefficient, in retrospect."

"I'm just saying... don't hurt to keep her company, eh?" He offered his best winning smile – and he had a good winning smile. “She's one of us, in't she?

Edwin rolled his eyes, but for once he didn't argue – Charles had him, and he knew it. "I'll... endeavour to be lenient," he offered.

"That's right big of you,” said Charles. He let their knees knock under the table. "Don't worry, not saying you have to be nice or anything. Just give the grumbling a rest for a bit, yeah?"

Edwin smirked. "Very wise of you to manage your expectations. 'Nice' is not a particular specialty of mine."

"I know." Charles grinned. "That's alright. I like it when you're a rude prick."

Edwin looked at him, and the hard lines of his face softened some. "Yes, you do seem to," he said; light, fond . "An ailment for which I fear there's no cure."

Charles ducked his head, smiling something daft. "We should do France properly sometime,” he said. “Go to Paris. Bet there's a load of old bookshops and that in Paris.”

Edwin brightened, with a little happy hum. "Capital idea, Charles. I haven't had reason to practice my French in some years." Then he sighed, proper dramatic. "Though I suppose we'll be taking the train again."

"Depends on if Crystal wants to come."

"Why wouldn't she?" Some of the stiffness had returned to Edwin's shoulders, but he was doing an alright job of hiding it. Anyone who wasn't Charles might not've noticed at all. "I daresay you two will want to take in the romantic sights while I peruse the booksellers."

Charles chuckled. 

Edwin flashed him an annoyed look. "It's a fair assumption."

"Yeah, well, we're not exactly like that."

"Is that so?"

Charles shrugged. "Had a bit of fun, but. She's still figuring some stuff out. Not looking for anything serious."

Edwin hummed, tightly, eyes fixed on the newspaper. 

Charles swallowed the lump of anxiety in his throat, and flicked the corner of the paper to get his attention. "Besides: had some stuff to figure out myself, too, haven't I?"

Edwin froze, the paper rustling in his hands as his fingers tightened on it. "Oh." He glanced furtively to Charles, while obviously trying not to look furtive. For a detective, he was a right crap actor, sometimes. "Yes. How is that... progressing?"

Charles rolled his neck, tilting his face in Edwin's direction. Edwin looked right strange, perched all prim and proper on the polyester train seat with its bowling alley fabric pattern. Charles could almost squint and see through time, to how he would've looked on a train in the nineteen hundreds; surrounded by wood panels and velvet, by family who wouldn't touch him unless it was to fix his hair, straighten his bowtie. He looked out of place here – but he was right next to Charles, so actually, he was exactly where he ought to be. And the afternoon sun on the yellow fields looked dead pretty scattered across his cheekbones and his nose and that neat, handsome sweep of dark hair from his temple.

Yeah. Charles was figuring a thing or two out, alright.

He looked away and fidgeted, trying to shut his eyes and settle back in his seat in a way that looked relaxed, unbothered – and not like he was trying to avoid looking too closely at his best mate's lips or his eyes or his long, clever fingers. "Let's make it just a you and me thing," he said. "Paris, I mean."

There was a moment of quiet, then the sound of Edwin's newspaper coming to rest on the plastic table. "...Yes. Yes, I'd like that."

Charles smiled, and let the rhythmic motion of the train roll over him – if he had a heart, it'd be thumping in time to the clickety-clack on the tracks. He couldn't sleep, not even in the dark behind his eyelids, but he could daydream. Imagine that he could feel the sun on his face, the vibration at his back.

And while he was at it, he could reach out, just a little, and hook his pinky finger through Edwin's. Just 'cause.

A very, very small laugh escaped Edwin – almost like a runaway gasp. "I suppose," he said, mildly. "The scenic route has its charms."

 ~

Soon, the thud of Crystal's boots rejoined them, along with Crystal herself. Charles didn't even need to open his eyes, so he didn't bother.

“Charles,” Crystal greeted – and then, curtly: “Edwin.”

“Crystal.” Edwin replied, with matching coolness. But the ice soon broke on an audible, weary sigh. “Truce?” he offered.

She took a loud, long, deliberate swig of coffee before answering. Her and Edwin were peas in a dramatic, petty little pod, much as neither of them wanted to admit it. “...Truce.”

Edwin cleared his throat. “Yes. Very good.” Then, after a moment: “Thank you for your patience.”

The sounds of Crystal getting resettled stopped abruptly. Charles opened his eyes and found her half in her seat, hand and coffee cup on the table, staring at Edwin like he'd grown an extra head.

"So you're in, like… a good mood, now?” she said. “That was almost an apology. What'd I miss?”

Charles glanced sideways. Edwin had his face angled to the window – and a small, soft smile barely tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Oh," said Edwin lightly. His finger twitched around Charles’, just a little. Almost a squeeze. "Nothing of import."

Charles fought – and failed – to suppress a grin.

Crystal looked between them. "Charles. You didn't like..." She made the same crude handjob gesture he'd done earlier. "Give him a demonstration ...?"

Edwin squawked in indignation, Charles burst into surprised, sheepish laughter; and the golden fields outside the window gave way to row upon endless row of lavender and grapevine as Provence rolled alongside them, painting the plodding hours in green and purple.

And Edwin only complained about it ten, maybe eleven more times. New record, that!

~

Hope you liked it! Consider dropping us a comment or a reblog if you did 😊

Wrote this in part to distract myself from a horrifically busy train ride, in part as wish fulfilment while daydreaming about a world where the British public transit system isn't in shambles and I can get on a cross country train that isn't cancelled and sit in my pre-reserved seat as planned. Written and posted on my phone so apologies if that's reflected in the form and formatting!

Til next time!

[soapymansuds]

Eternity and Counting

Pt.3

(Pt1, Pt2)

(I am SOOOOOO sorry I didn't post on Tuesday. Full honestly, I forgot. But today's chapter is a touch longer than usual as an apology. And by just a touch, I mean almost double the length of both previous chapters<3)

Obey me! X Angel!MC (They/Them Pronouns)

TW: Suicide, depression, self-deprecation, death, big feelings, lots of sad.

MC just can't handle anything anymore and takes their own life. Imagine their dismay to find even death isn't the end for them.Keep reading

~/\~

Since that day, my life, or afterlife I suppose, has been relatively simple. When I'm not resting in the garden, I'm running small errands for Michael. It's easy enough to avoid recognition here, but for the sake of my peace of mind, I wear a cloaking spell whenever I'm out. Simeon agreed not to tell anybody about my presence, and in exchange, he asked that I let him join me on my errands, even if he doesn't recognize me. He claims I could have any face in all three realms, and my presence would still bring him comfort. Sometimes he brings me updates on how the others are doing. Usually, he talks about Luke and his growth. He often avoids talking about the Devildom, and whether that's because he doesn't want to upset me or because he simply can't face them knowing what he knows, I've yet to figure out. It's a nice thought, him trying not to remind me of the best part of my life. But it's not overly helpful, given that, even if physical representations of our bonds weren't burned into my skin, everything I do reminds me of them anyway. I know it's selfish of me to make him keep my secret. But to be fair, I decided nearly a year ago that I am an inherently selfish creature, and I've come to terms with it.

Now that I'm on my own, things are easier. Nobody relies on me for much more than fetching papers or goods, and any failures that occur are mine to handle alone. It's simple. It's lonely. But it's simple. And it's good.

I suppose all good things must come to an end though. As I follow my long-since memorized path through the Celestial Palace, I can't help but wonder why I've been summoned. Usually, if Michael has a task for me, he simply brings it to me. But today he asked I meet him in the throne room, so here I am.

I'm greeted as soon as I swing open the door. "MC! Thank you for coming so quickly."

I'm nearly caught off guard by the use of my real name in public. For the sake of secrecy, Michael and Simeon have taken to calling me a fake name for the duration of my stay here.

"How can I help?" I nod as I close the door behind me. I take notice of Simeon's presence and he looks nervous. Never a good sign.

"I have some paperwork I need run to the Devildom. Usually I'd send Simeon, but I need him for another task today and this is rather urgent." Michael grins at me, likely in an attempt to sweeten the plan he's certain I would protest if given the chance.

I'm nearly nauseous at the idea of it. "You're joking, right? I mean this so genuinely, have you lost it?"

There's a flash of amusement on his face before he responds, "I would never make light of your trauma, no I am not joking. You have your cloaking spell, and all you need to do is hand the papers over to Barbatos. Maybe if he's busy, you'll have to hand them to Lord Diavolo himself. But then you can just come straight back. Simple and easy."

I stare at him, dead eyed and confused. "Yeah, seems super simple." I groan, sarcasm laced in every letter. "There's no getting out of this, is there?" I glance desperately at Simeon who seems to have loosened some of the tension in his spine at my pseudo acceptance of the whole ordeal. He shakes his head.

"Fine." I sigh. "Open'r up." with a lazy wave of my arm.

Michael nods, same fatherly grin plastered on his face as always. I'm sure he's convinced he's won some sort of mental battle, and maybe he has. Either way, he summons the portal, and I steal my nerves to step through. "I'm getting two days off when I get back." I call, lunging through the portal.

On the other side, I take a quick moment to make sure my cloaking spell hasn't warn off before looking around. I'm right where I had assumed I'd be. The courtyard's grand arches and elegant gazebo bring a chilly feeling of recognition to the back of my mind. How many gallas and celebrations had I spent out here, in search of some form of peace from the hustle and bustle? How many times had I stumbled upon Levi, or him upon me, in search of the same thing? I think for a moment that I wouldn't mind him stumbling upon me now.

I shake the thought from my mind as quickly as it occurs. Just deliver the paperwork.

I begin the path to the castle without a thought. The trail ingrained into my very psyche. I almost laugh at the thought. I abandoned this place, yet it never left me. What is it Djo said about men and cities?

I never allowed myself to dwell on it from the comfort of Michael's garden, but God did I miss the sky here. Something about the ever present swirling of purples and blues splashed across the stars is purely... divine. Not to say that the Celestial realm wasn't stunning. But there was always this sense of perfectionism, even in the natural landscape. It never felt right to me. Not like this at least. This has always been chaotic, but in the way a toddler helping in the kitchen is chaotic. Sure, shit's a mess and you're near certain it's going to end poorly, but if you take just a moment to watch it unfold, there's beauty in it.

I wish I could have been reborn as a demon.

No. No I don't. Living out the rest of my days, infinite as they may be, facing them with my own selfishness. I'm sure it would kill me a second time.

I'm utterly lost in thought and the view of the sky as I follow the path. So much so, I nearly miss the tail swishing on the ground in front of me. Luckily for me, it bats my ankle gently before I manage to step on it. Double luck, the contact doesn't wake it's sleeping owner.

Belphegor snores softly in the grass next to the path, curled up with his back to me. Something in me instinctively wants to curl up with him, but I know I can't. So instead, I sit. Divine garb be damned, I'm sitting on the dirt, watching him sleep. I consider making a run for it, but the subtle pull he's always had keeps me calm and still. Even in his sleep, even with our pact burned away, his presence still lulls me like a child.

I shake my head as if I were actually dozing off. Was I? Regardless, I stand up, settling to move him out of the trail, just a little. For the sake of the hazard he poses to himself and others. He's as warm as I remember as I press him further into the grass, tucking his tail over his leg before quickly stepping away and back to my task.

A warm feeling I can just barely remember washes over me and stops me in my tracks. How could I, after over a year away, fall so quickly back into routine. Not only how could I, but how dare I? I made my decision, and I've got no right to just wander in here and return to my position, doting and fawning over them. I truly am a selfish creature.

I tried to explain it to them, time and time again. But they simply refused to believe me. I cared so much, not because of them, but because I needed to. I needed to care for them to feel useful. Asmodeus once told me that I was a "pleasure sub". I told him I was willing to rip my own heart out to please him, but mostly because i never much cared for it anyway.

(As always, thank you soooo much for reading. If you'd like to be tagged in future uploads, please comment to be added to the list!)

-Your Friend, The Author

*tags*

@spffldlbrnf

[neuroprincess]

Bunny Ears and Chocolate - Ava Coleman/Female Reader

Ava Coleman/Female Reader

Summary: When another celebration arrives, you think it's going to be one more blank day, but an unexpected gift and a wonderful girlfriend prove otherwise.

Classification: Slight angst, Fluff

Warnings: Reference to a reader's unhappy childhood, Ava being a romantic baby

Note: I should have posted this at Easter, but you know me, I just found it in my archived writings

Word count: +2200

Unrevised

Growing up in a home that was considered unstructured and not at all affectionate deprived you of many moments that other children had throughout their lives: the tooth fairy didn't even bother to leave 5 cents for each tooth that fell out, Christmas didn't have the same sparkle as the TV commercials and Thanksgiving was always summed up in canned food, maybe a fight between your parents in the kitchen at the end of the night. It was no different with Easter, every now and then you'd get a cheap bar of chocolate at school or from some kind neighbor, you didn't even take part in a neighbourhood egg hunt. The whole process was a gray area between so many celebrations, weekends and holidays spent watching movie marathons with lots of popcorn and a pinch of loneliness by choice. 

It was like that for years, until you met Ava, who never cared about any of this before and you thought it might be a good match when you started dating. However, she had this, her parents were affectionate and gave the best moments that continue to be remembered fondly when each of these dates arrives. You like to hear her describe every toy she got from some distant relative and later exchanged for something more interesting with classmates, the weird casseroles grandma invented for dinner or when she bought the first make-up with the money the fairy, aka her mom, left under the pillow. Between laughs and jokes, she always looks forward to hearing your stories and can't hide disappointment when the subject is suddenly changed, teasing you a little, but giving up so as not to make you uncomfortable. Deep down, you start to care and feel envious of all the lost moments, all the things you can't have, the invisible, dormant childish wounds festering. Wounds set aside, especially when it comes to her work as a teacher at Abbott.

"Miss Y/L/N, how do we know if the butterfly is male or female?" one of the students asks, leaning over the table to get a better look inside the transparent box.

"Don't be silly, Kayla!" another replies, rolling his eyes, and does the same "They're all female."

"Actually, not all of them are female, dear." you stand between them and point to the insect that's emerging from its cocoon, weeks before you found a caterpillar in Barb's flower beds and it collected itself in the cocoon, which coincidentally ended up hatching on the last day of school before holiday "That's a monarch butterfly, if there are dark spots on the hind wings it's a male and if not it's a female."

"But it hasn't opened the wings yet." Kayla observes sadly, for a child minutes can seem like a real eternity "It's taking too long..."

"That's just it, hatching can take from 10 minutes to 60 minutes, each one has their own time."

"Just like the rest of us," she adds with a hearty smile.

"You all see how incredible metamorphosis can be?!"

A little animated chatter starts up as your class waits anxiously to watch it fully emerge from cocoon, most of them debating which names to choose and how they would take care of it, forgetting the little agreement they had made, you decided to let them enjoy the moment before scrapping the hopeful children's plans.

"I don't see any spots!" Carson shouts excitedly "We've got a girl!"

After a while, they agree on a name and end up naming her Lizzy - cute, short and pretty. In third period, your kids gather to release her into the playground, and you take advantage of the moment to explain the relationship between butterflies and Easter and all the meaning behind the beautiful transformation. 

"Miss Y/L/N..." Kayla calls out to you shyly as everyone gets ready for break, most of them already running, the girl puts her hands behind back and blushes approaching the table "I saved this one for you."

She holds up an Easter egg wrapped in fluffy colored paper, a bow adorning it and making the package more attractive. The girl stares at you with her eyes shining in anticipation as you fight back imminent tears, not something you expected to happen when you woke up in the morning. It's your first chocolate Easter egg in all your years of life, a small, innocent gesture from a schoolchild that makes the entire wall built up around commemorative dates and traditions crumble in seconds.

"Thank you so much, dear..." you accept the treat with a little uncertainty, hands trembling as you hold the candy "I..."

"I knew you'd like it, it's very good, I promise." she says cheerfully and leaves the classroom, as if she hadn't just made a grand gesture.

As soon as the girl leaves, the principal comes through the doorway with her usual cheeky grin and full of curiosity about your reaction, asking herself what she could have done to you, none of which comes close to the real thing. Her presence is barely noticed, not even when she closes the door after the room has emptied, your eyes fixed on the adorable wrapping, the colorful patterns and the generic but cute note wishing Happy Easter.

"Kitten..." she calls for the third time, worried "Is everything all right?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was over the moon." you try to pull yourself together, compressing lips and bringing fingers to the corners of eyes, wiping your face "Hungry?"

"Just of you." Ava whispers seductively and takes two steps forward, standing inches away to steal a quick kiss "Now tell me what happened or I'll tickle the hell out of you." it's the kind of affectionate threat that doesn't make you laugh this time, it's a difficult topic to talk about, but maybe that's the time.

"Well, there's a reason I never tell holiday stories or have great comments for yours, I..." tears are there again, stronger and warmer, you take the candy to heart in search of comfort, the woman keeps quiet listening attentively "I never had any of that, my parents never gave a damn and I wasn't a demanding child."

"That?"

"Coins from the tooth fairy, nice dinners, Christmas trees, gifts and..." the Easter egg is raised with a certain pride, finally giving in to crying, tears of sadness and happiness mixing together "This! It's my first!" you finally admits, feeling a little childish at the thrill and excitement of something so small for an adult.

"Your first?" she is genuinely confused, staring at the simple candy, which for her has no great significance, then the realization of the fact hits her hard "Really?"

"Yes, one of my students just gave it to me." you whisper, feeling the tears wanting to come back again and a tight feeling in chest "I know, it's silly..."

"No, it's not, it's never silly, especially if it's something important to you." the woman responds quickly, wrapping arms around your trembling body and puts your head against her soft breasts, it's an intimate and comforting act "And if I'd known before, I'd have been the first person to give you a chocolate. And decorated the house last Christmas. Or better, I would have taken you to New York. I guess I just wouldn't have had a solution for the tooth fairy... but there are ideas on how to make up for it."

"God, you're the best girlfriend ever."

"Of course I am." Ava kisses your forehead and takes advantage of the position to slip her fingers under your shirt, lightly tickling the sensitive spots "So much so that I ordered tarts from that new store you mentioned last week."

She holds up the cardboard bag with the pretty logo and half a dozen tarts in various flavors. A delicious dessert for a pleasant shared lunch, which has become routine, a moment of peace to enjoy each other's presence in the busy and chaotic routine that is working in childhood education.

With a bag full of art supplies and a pile of exam papers in hand, you enter the apartment, struggling not to knock everything off the improvised jenga. Usually you would have the help of the tallest one, those long arms look so sexy carrying boxes full of children's books and covered in glitter, but after all that sugar and dough, she had to go home early with an stomach bug. Of course, in her pile there are one or two medicines and tea for her.

"Darling?" home is strangely dark, silent and there's no sign of your partner's vibrant personality "Ava? Are you feeling better?" you ask, starting to get worried, hurrying to turn on the light switches.

When the light turns on, you find yourself with one foot on what looks like a rabbit's footprint glued to the wood floor. Then another next to it, followed by another and another, the bags are abandoned at the entrance and the door closed. Step by step you reach the coat closet, where a chocolate bar is placed next to a card with the words "Our love is sweet as the place we started the day together... or as your coffee." handwritten in impeccable calligraphy. It makes you smile lovingly, she always jokes about the amount of cream you put in the liquid as you get ready for the morning, only to steal some of it with kisses. The fun mugs, perhaps one of the first things you bought when decided to move in together, hold truffles and the next tip. Seven cards later, almost every room explored and your arm full of candies, you finally reach the last place with the tip "No matter where we are, as long as we're together, we've found our home." and it's obvious that it's the master bedroom, where you love each other, talk about your days and plan the future, where you can strip away the burdens of everyday life and forget about the world.

"Do you like it, kitten?" the woman asks, coming up behind as soon as you open the door.

In the middle of the bed, there's a huge Easter basket of chocolates, from simple chocolate bars to decorated boxes of handmade truffles, with colorful wrapping and a giant bow, next to a big stuffed bunny, one of those fluffy ones that are too cute to resist hugging. A Happy Easter banner has been placed above the headboard and when turn around you let out a laugh when notice that the principal is wearing a fuzzy bunny ears, one up and the other down, a cute made-up nose.

"Welcome back, little baby!" she wraps her arms around waist and lifts you into the air, capturing your lips as she spins around.

"You... You did all this for me? Aw, that's so sweet and thoughtful."

"And all yours, I wanted to make your first official Easter something special." Ava puts you down and picks up a second bunny ear from the shelf, carefully placing it on your head "My cutie..."

"I'm literally speechless, all I can think about is how amazing you are."

"I know!" she jokes and leans in to give you another kiss "Sweetheart, you're a wonderful person and I'm sorry you didn't have any of these moments, but know that I'm going to make each of these dates unforgettable and unique, something of ours."

You stare at her in shock and feel your eyes sting, tears gathering at the edges of eyes, it's hard to control. This was the first surprise you've ever received in your life and certainly the best of all, every detail was thought of, planned and made especially for you, as well as the romantic touch she gave to every little and big gift.

"You don't have to do that..." you whisper, voice breaking with emotion, "I... You already do so much for me."

"I haven't even done half of what I want to do for you." your girlfriend smiles tenderly, her hand sliding gently across your cheek "You deserve the world and I'm going to do my best to give it to you."

"I don't even know how to thank you for everything." a feeling of being silly comes over you again, but it's quickly gone when you see the passionate smile on her plump lips "It's more than I could have dreamed of."

"You don't have to be thankful, baby, just enjoy it." she replies, lifting you onto her lap and standing face to face "Or enjoy it while you thank me."

Ava is funny and suggestive, walking slowly over to the bed, sitting there with you on her lap, surrounded by the candies and the cheerful decoration. She brings a hand up to yours, intertwining her fingers with yours. The comfortable silence is broken only by the soft sound of breathing and happy giggles.

"Shall we eat some chocolate and then watch a movie?" the woman asks, squeezing you a little tighter against her "We have the whole weekend to ourselves."

All you can do is nod, leaning in again to give her a kiss, this time slow and passionate, full of tenderness. She moans feeling your fingers tangle in the black strands, pulling her towards you and deepening the contact.

"I love you, baby." you whisper against her lips, knocking into the soft mattress.

"No more than I love you, kitten. You have no idea."

taglist: @wastdstime @scarr0713 @heidss @xvyzxx @milffilm @taurus-baby-34 @josephinevr @grandtacoranchnickel @multifandomlesbianic @louderfortheback @le0vo1dz @lilfartbox1 @evattude @tmlwattpad19

Join my taglist here ^^

[runespoor7]

I mean obviously I’m am going to ask you about chengxian, for the ask meme

What made you ship it?

It was the most interesting relationship in the book. I'm a sucker for childhood friends with broken promises, for grief, for misunderstandings over loyalty and love, and for relationships whose resolution in canon is bittersweet.

It still took some time and effort before I started really shipping it. I was theoretically open to shipping it but I hadn't yet read fics that really sold me on it (this was in 2019, I think). Then as an experiment I put a WWX-inspired character in the setting I was GMing for the JC and JYL NPC stand-ins to have him to play off of. Turned out I did ship them.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

😬

*wide, helpless, expansive gesture*

It's never simple with them. It's always fraught. They love one another but they also resent one another. Hunting demonic cultivators is about WWX still maybe being alive. Maybe JC can bring himself to kill WWX this time, or maybe he can find a way to bring WWX back home and forgive him. WWX promises to be with JC but he ends up promising that he won't stay ("like my father served your father") but he didn't mean it with an end. the mess that is the fraughtness of WWX's liminal space when it comes to his social rank.

love hurts, what hurts is love.

the fact that the one 'leading' is WWX, not JC, going against the accepted social order. (tbh, if that wasn't the case, I probably wouldn't be into the ship.) it paints such a picture of WWX being so charismatic, and JC being so taken with him, that JC falls into being WWX's sidekick. no wonder YZY was awful about it.

JC keeping Chenqing like a mad dog and keeping Lotus Pier WWX-safe. I. god. JC rating WWX's attention >>>>>>>>>>>>> JC's self-respect every time, in every way. Amazing.

it's incredible to me how WWX asks JYL about love in a scene framed in a manner to make it subtextually point in the direction of LWJ (it's mdzs; the canon pair in mdzs is wgxn; there are no - explicit - love triangles in mdzs; and yet even WWX's original crush on LWJ is, uh. informed by JC and how WWX is with JC and the fact that LWJ is New and Not The Son of WWX's Benefactor. this is normal.), where it's apparent that WWX is scared of being in love because it changes how you act, it's a limit, it's a cage, you're limiting yourself for someone else - and then WWX does something for JC that is everything he was scared of.

and it does ruin him! it's terrible! so his romance with LWJ is everything his feelings for JC weren't. He's not the one doing the protecting. LWJ doesn't question him. There are no expectations of anything, no discussions of the future, no thoughts of society. LWJ is just such a comfort, just a good thing WWX gets because he wants it. Also LWJ isn't emotionally taxing af (this is a big one). (WWX kinda ends up YZY-ing himself at the end of the book but I'm not thinking about that.)

WWX's utter toxicity toward JC. not a iota of respect for either JC or JC's boundaries to be found, except when convenient for WWX.

they both really, really believe that WWX is better than JC in every way. it's very cool

look. i'm a simple person. arrogant genius jerk/grumpy dutiful tsundere otp.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I love the joke that chengxian isn't incest but both of them wish it were, but I think the only time one of them wished they were brothers was JC when he decided to sacrifice himself for WWX and he was lying in bed making morbid jokes. At least sacrificing yourself for your brother who is the better cultivator and can lead the sect would be simple. Forgivable. Good.

I also think they might grow to think of one another as brothers at some point post-canon, that's a sort of reconciliation that might happen, but to me it's key that during canon they don't know what they are to one another, they just know they're scarily, terrifyingly important, and there's no word for what they are to one another.

JC refused shixiong-shidi (in a shocking reversal of their normal dynamic, I think he forgot he did that and spent roughly two decades feeling insecure and weird that WWX doesn't call him shidi) and they can be nothing else, socially speaking. The love that dare not speak its name, if you would. And at that same time post-canon they could also decide that what they're to each other is that WWX used to be in love with JC, and maybe JC still is, and they're not brothers. Or maybe both! The point is, the definition of their relationship is uncharted waters and they never thought of each other as 'brothers' (much less called each other that).

2) WWX is incredibly bitter and resentful of giving his core to JC and that colors everything he thinks and says about JC afterwards, including after he's returned to life. Basically, he gave, and gave, and gave, and felt there was no gratitude, and he's unable to live the life he wanted, unable to reap the promises life made him, and JC isn't any more agreeable or tractable than before (less so, in fact!). It's not fair.

[akai-akai]

this is all over the place I'm sorry, but bear with me.

"suave, intimidating lieutenant simon" "quiet war-hardened mysterious simon"— NO

Simon Riley is a DORK.

Like imagine this big ass war-weathered 6'4 lieutenant who weighs over 200 pounds and has the build of a Spartan and a downright terrifying reputation. He's all aloof and intimidating and unapproachable and then at the most random of times, he rattles off the stupidest pun ever and just... Pretends nothing happened. Continues his day while some poor recruit is left wondering what the fuck that interaction meant.

Give me Simon Riley who mulls over which corny line to say in that subtle thinks-he's-the-funniest-man-alive tone. Does that dumb little ₕᵤₕ ₕᵤₕ ₕᵤₕ when he's especially proud of the fuckery that just came from his mouth. Then gives a look that says "they'll never believe you" and walks off.

And when he has his mask off when it's just him and the boys, he gets this little quirk in his lips as he comes up with a new one and gets ready to deliver it. And if he receives an equally hilarious unbearable one back, his lips will stretch into a rare, crooked downturned smile, a tiny flash of his teeth— barely noticeable— showing through a small part in his lips, where scarring has given them an irregular shape and they don't quite seal together.

Or sometimes (usually) he'll receive an exasperated, agonized groan from Johnny, and his nose will scrunch slightly, eyes crinkling and the corners of his lips twitch, and he's so satisfied with himself that Johnny can't even be mad.

Other times, it'll be with a completely straight face, voice devoid of all emotion as he spells out yet another twisted pun and Johnny pinches the bridge of his nose and wonders what the hell is going through Simon's mind when he says shit like this. ("this one's great, I should say it. I'm gonna say it. I'm saying it.")

Johnny is his usual victim, and occasionally Kyle, so they're somewhat used to it, but the first time he drops one of these on the captain???

John thinks he's lost his fucking marbles and later checks Simon's file to make sure he didn't have any flags in any recent military-mandated therapy appointments or psyche-evals.

Johnny and Simon will be quietly coexisting together, like sitting in Simon's barracks while Simon does his tedious post-mission paperwork and Johnny attempts to nap on Simon's bed. Except he can't fucking nap because as soon as he begins to drift off, Simon's clearing his throat and Johnny just fucking knows it's coming.

"Don't," he'll try to say, but Simon's already opened his mouth to speak, it's happening.

"What do you call kids in the military?" No response. "......Infantry."

Johnny promptly stuffs Simon's pillow over his head, huffs, and considers chucking the pillow at the other man's thick skull.

NSFW:

When there's finally a moment of privacy and Johnny is balls deep and patiently waiting for Simon to give the go-ahead to move, but then Simon pauses and catches Johnny's eyes and Johnny will give him a "please no" expression, but then Simon's lips twitch and his mouth opens and— Oh, oops! Sorry Simon, Johnny didn't mean to move his hips like that and ruin your definitely-hilarious joke and replace it with such a scandalous sound.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

he's so funny I love him. this is probably out of character to some people, but it just scratches my brain.

[stargirlsmooch]

would you like to write something like:

modern abby and her best friend are both working on their athletic careers but trying to always be there for each other!

until one day- volleyball player! reader had an important game and abby forgot about it, going out with her friends after her training session! but when she goes (running) to the place of the match there's no one other than a sad reader (her team lost) and they start arguing but then abby kisses her 😔

[thank you for everything you post 🤍 wish you a lot of happiness (and yes i'm in love with your acc)]

would i like to write something like this??? ughhhhh... yes please, baby. I'm sorry it took me so long to get to the request... i have just been in such a rut recently but sexy abby anderson can always break me out of it.

let's go :)

warnings: fem!reader, alcohol, love, mutual pining, tongue sucking and some making out, an ass grab, boobie talk, a baseball reference

the match wasn't going the way you wanted needed it to. it didn't matter how many points you won, the other team just seemed to do one better... and it was eating at you.

and what was worse? you couldn't see her in the crowd.

abby. your best friend. your personal cheerleader. nowhere to be seen. and that somehow felt worse than all of your hard work training for this match going to waste.

the referee blew her whistle long and hard, signalling the end of the game as the other side of the net erupted into cheers and celebrations, and it broke your heart. you had lost before, you were a well-seasoned athlete in your last year of college, a professional contract just out of reach, but each loss hurt just as bad as the one before it.

but if a loss was a broken heart, a forgotten promise was your heart being ripped out; she swore she would be here, at the back of the bleachers where she usually sat, her fingers crossed in the hope that you would once again lead your team to victory. instead, she was...

---

... at the fucking bar. her teammates all crowded around a table, pizzas and vodka-sodas covering the expanse of the dark wood as they all celebrated a successful practice and a week free from competition.

abby had gone a little too hard, she and her co-captain jokingly practicing their victory speeches and doing a shot or two of tequila before falling into an easy yet slightly slurred chat.

"so, you going to that party becky was talking about tomorrow?" abby asked, throwing her pizza crust onto the tray in front of them and taking another drink from the waitress who offered her one.

"you mean the party on friday?" her friend laughed, jokingly sliding abby's drink away from her, hinting at the fact that abby might have had a little too much.

she couldn't help the chuckle that burst out of her lungs at (what she thought was) a joke.

"yeah, tomorrow." abby paused, her eyes widening, "tomorrow is friday."

"abs... tomorrow is thursday," was what she heard, solidifying her nightmare.

but it still took abby a good 30 seconds to take in the news, and another 30 seconds to realise the grave mistake that she had made; wednesday, your match. shit.

---

the steel of the door smashed against the palms of her hands as she flung the sports hall's door open, rushing inside and making it only to the edge of court before she saw you, head in your hands and weeping. if abby listened closely enough, she could hear your quiet sniffles.

"everyone else's friends managed to come," you rushed out, albeit quietly, only just lifting your head enough to meet her eyes, "so you better have a damn good excuse."

abby dropped her head, her right hand automatically sliding around the back of her neck to try to expel some of her awkwardness and guilt. she didn't say anything, she couldn't, because she had no reason good enough for upsetting her best friend.

"nevermind. i can smell the fucking tequila from here." you raised your voice, letting your anger take control as you shoved your sports bag onto your shoulder and made to leave, only making it two steps before abby came up behind you, grabbing your wrist.

"i have no excuse, okay? i forgot, and i'm sorry." choosing the honesty route, she let the words hang in the air behind you, your eyes still pointed away from her.

"we lost, abby." the anger that was once at the wheel wasn't there for long as your earlier disappointment floated back into your head. you stepped back into abby's chest as she laid her chin on top of your head and wrapped an arm around your chest, your back plastered to her front.

"i'm so sorry, honey."

"i needed you here, abs." you whispered, turning around in her embrace to look into her eyes, your arms instinctively going around her waist, holding her closer.

it happened slowly: that first look down at your lips, stealing the words off her tongue as she shot her eyes back up to yours, seeing that they too were now pointing down slightly. and then she couldn't stop herself from leaning in closer, and closer, until your mouths touched gently, your recently glossed lips sliding over hers.

she had once thought about your first kiss, thinking it would never come but hoping so desperately that it would. it would be soft and slow and tender- and it was all of those things, for the first ten seconds.

and then abby felt your hand slip into her hair behind her braid and your breasts squish against her hard chest, your nipples grazing against hers through your sports bras.

you made abby lose it; sucking her tongue into your mouth and sucking on it, tasting her desperately as her hands slid to your ass, squeezing roughly and making you yelp and lose contact.

"okay okay, wait," you said, a hand on abby's chest, keeping her at bay. "i'll forgive if you let me go to third base."

abby laughed, out of breath, "i don't play baseball but you can eat me out."